Avaricious
by Cata-nee
Summary: Just like him, she would climb an unreachable height to sate her desires. When she meets tenacity rivaling her own, she finds the drastic path is not always the proper. The humorous version of Rapacious written for amusement. Enjoy.
1. Atoms, atoms, and atoms

**Continued Summary : **Greed x OC x Ling. The OC is an obnoxious, arrogant troll whose goals are to live life in complete luxury. Unfortunately for her, a certain blonde midget won't allow her escape reality (Or sate her avarice) so easily. In doing so, she is unwillingly thrown into the plot and is bended against her will.

Luckily for her, she can keep a smirk drawn on her face with a ballpoint pen.

**A/N: **_Typical title, I know. BUT I like the word avaricious. Cata-nee's here with her very first FMA: Brotherhood story, as well as her first fanfic regarding CanonxOC and an actual plotline in a story, in a long time. I think it's been like two years? You probably don't care, in fact, you probably didn't even read this. If so, then kudos to you, because I am only going to be placing a disclaimer here. Thank you for taking the time to click this oh, humble story of mine. Mary-sue protected._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA: Brotherhood or any of its characters. If I did, then I wouldn't have let Edward's growth apparent in episode 46, I think it was. Because it's two episodes away from my favorite one.

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><p><strong><em>Avaricious<em>**

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_| Only slightly… |_

**Chapter 1**

Atoms, atoms, and atoms.

**.**

"Hydrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon…" [1] Words without much purpose droned out of her mouth, almost like smoke. She was exasperated and anxiety was eating her inside out.

Other people around her were busy either selling or buying things, or perhaps just hanging around as she was.

But _they_ weren't waiting for the results of a State Alchemist test.

Ah, yes, the infamous State Alchemist exam. After slaving over a plastic seat in order to hastily write out the basic concepts and layout of alchemy, Catalena had to explain her abilities and how it would prove fundamental to the State Military. She remembered grimacing down at her paper, quietly swearing that she had always proved a loyal dog of the military, under her secretly insane superior officer. Speaking of him, she had always admired that pretty silver pocket watch he had.

Her brown-gloved fingers tapped against the meal table she was seated at and her gray eyes stared blankly at the menu that she had asked for upon arrival. She had considered the desire for a nice pancake, but then rejected it, concluding that she wasn't so hungry after all. Catalena's gray eyes bored holes into the menu, and she was far from relaxed.

"Alright, you're coming with us, illegal alien."

She craned her neck at the voices of Central's local police, her gray hood folding neatly behind her neck as the sudden gesture ensued. Her matching colored eyes distinguished a passing by duo of Central policemen pulling a foreign-looking man by the scruff of his clothes.

The man who had his black hair tied in a ponytail, besides the spiky bangs that protruded onto his right eye, didn't look very hostile at all. Catalena, watching with newfound interest, stood up from her seat.

How the hell could a helpless looking alien like him be arrested?

Thinking this as she blockaded them with her body, she formally addressed, "Good afternoon, mister sirs~" She waved one of her gloved hands and smiled with a blooming personality.

The two cops and even their captive looked with a sense of alarm. Peeking through one of her previously shut eyes, Catalena could catch the airs of Xingese countrymen about him.

Her arms fell limp and her eyes opened again, revealing stormy orbs, "May I infer what is it you two are doing with this young man?"

An ordinary bystander probably wouldn't have been answered, but the people had rights. Besides, the gloves and type of clothes she wore were pretty known to be Alchemist-wear. One of the two, the one who had found him to begin with replied, "This man says he's from Xing, but he doesn't have an entry visa."

"Therefore he's an illegal immigrant, and should be accounted for illegally crossing the border. We're taking him to jail, miss."

"As if that's any of your concern," the first one added again.

Catalena huffed, dropping her eyebrows in offense. Sliding her hands from her gray jacket's soft fabric, she held her hips, "Where did you find him?"

The two officers seemed irritated by Catalena's interference, but they didn't want to start an upheaval within the nearby bystanders. "Um, we found him passed out on the roads, miss. He says he's starving or something…"

The Xingese man uttered a pathetic cry in approval.

Catalena smirked, holding her hips a tinge more triumphantly. She chortled, waving one hand, "You having a bad week? Are you honestly going to throw this poor guy into jail on an empty stomach?"

The captors and the captive looked surprised at her modesty.

"Come on, come on! You haven't ever tried prison food? Not that I've ever been imprisoned, but really—the food is revolting." She concluded her argument.

First the two shared glances at each other, then at the awaiting woman, and finally at the young man. They both sighed before making their decision.

_**.**  
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_Food flew everywhere; it didn't matter where one sat._

_Was this how Xingese eating habits differentiated from Amestrian?_

_The restaurant bill seemed to lengthen infinitely…_

**.**_  
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He was almost like the homunculus Gluttony, voraciously wolfing down food that the chef kept piling up. Catalena instinctively had the urge to gape, but she was frightened of half-chewed pieces of food projecting into her mouth cavity. Looking past it all, she pondered if the change she had in her pocket would suffice to the bill.

"I guess it's good to savor every bite…" she pointed out, resting her cheek on one hand, "because it's going to be a while until you can eat like this again." Her short, light brown neck-length hair tickled her nape as it naturally layered against it.

He was swallowing a bowl of soup in one gulp before finishing with a satisfied sigh. Then he looked at the young woman, a flurry of noodles becoming consumed in one loud slurp, "Oh yeah, it was all quite delicious! Thank you so much!" He folded his hands within each large yellow sleeve.

Catalena sat up erect again, inquiring the young man, "So you're from Xing, are you? And you came to Amestris without an entry visa?"

Sweat drops fell from the side of his bare face, and he tilted his face to the side childishly, "Um, to be honest I sort of lost it while crossing the desert. Sorry~"

Catalena folded her arms in front of her chest, sighing, "Actually, I'm sorry for you." As she spoke, her voice was easily directed towards the two Central officers lingering nearby, "Because you're heading straight to jail after this."

"Oh…" he turned cautiously to stare at the two grumbling men.

"…What's your name anyway? And why did you come to Amestris? Central?"

Instantly his face lit up, and he proudly beamed, "My name is Ling Yao~ And I came here to study alkahestry. I'm here because Amestris is known for its alchemy."

"Catalena," she quickly announced, but then repeated after him in an astounded voice,"Alkahestry? And you want to learn more about alchemy, now? What do you need to know about it?" Suddenly she seemed interested. It was the sense that someone actually needed her help, and she was more than capable of giving it. Catalena cherished the thought of being gratefully useful.

His shifty-eyes surprisingly opened, and initially became sharp, serious-worthy black pupils. "I'm here with my subjects to discover the secrets of immortality."

At the ambitious objective, Ling had earned scoffs of disapproval from the nearby officers. Catalena, however, believed him. She didn't know the full story of why he needed one, but nonetheless she allowed it. She rested her head on her fist as the man accompanying her folded his arms across his bare chest. "…So basically you're looking for a Philosopher's Stone."

"Exactly," Ling confirmed, ushering a smirk.

Catalena wasn't sure how to continue from then on, but regardless, she fueled his undying interest in the preposterous object, "You realize the only way to obtain a stone is to sacrifice thousands of human souls within a transmutation circle, right?" Not entirely true, she thought. She wanted to stretch the truth a little to demotivate him.

"Of course! You don't assume I came here without knowing a few things about what I'm looking for!" Just like that, he had gained squinty eyes again.

_How ironic. _"…So you're just looking to find one. That's it?" Her disposition became bored.

"Yeah! You know where to get one?" Unaware of her gradual evasion of the subject, Ling sprang up from his seat, looking excited. He caught the attention of the two officers nearby.

"Nope."

He slunk back in his seat, disappointed.

"Ling, was it? I'm sorry; I guess I wasn't much help. Philosopher's Stones aren't very often to come by." She dryly stated this; still desiring to change the subject.

He was satisfied though, probably already sensing that she wasn't able to help. However the insane Qi that she was giving off interested him.

She pushed the chair back, standing up in her seat. Her stormy gray eyes were pinched closed as she laid a bundle of whatever was in her pocket as payment to the chef.

He stood up as well, and the two Central officers began walking in. Before they could get their hands on him, he asked her, "Excuse me, Catalena, right? Do you happen to be an alchemist?"

She opened her eyes again, not really in shock, just blankness. "…Oh…" she glanced at the police,"Actually, I just finished my State Alchemist test." She smirked, touching her collarbone profoundly, "I'm pretty damn sure I aced it, too."

"Is that so~?" Ling ringed after her ego expanded itself.

"Hell yes—" Just as she had answered he flung himself forward, looking as if tripping. He even sounded an "Oops" as he fell towards Catalena, and for some reason his face landed squarely on her chest. The feeling of his skin becoming so tightly surfaced against hers caused her to physically shut down. The two Central officers and Catalena were too morbid to react promptly. Disgusted, shocked, or nose-bleeding faces appeared on anybody witness to this, but Catalena was more of the naive types—hence, her buckled knees. Besides, it was too fast for her to even frown.

Everyone didn't move, even Catalena, believing that it was a coincidental accident. Ling's face stayed comfortable on her breasts for a while, but then he straightened himself upwards again, smiling with his shifty eyes.

"Oops~ so sorry! Looks like I tripped; clumsy me." He mused, rubbing the back of his neck apologetically.

Catalena, however gracious of accepting his apology…

Was unable to do so as the two officers from before took a hold of him,

"Now you're being accounted for sexual harassment as well as being an illegal alien. You're in a heap of trouble." With both gripping the shoulders of his yellow shirt, they pulled him away.

"It was a complete accident, I swear!" He cried, almost laughing hysterically.

Catalena spared the three a glance before disregarding it. After hearing the Xingese man's intentions, she hadn't wanted to get any closer to him. She furrowed her brows, "Although…"

Her fingers tentatively touched her collarbone, right where the pervert Ling had buried his face into.

Colorless eyes narrowed as she stared down at her chest "…He knew exactly where my Philosopher's Stone was located. That Ling Yao…"

The disarrayed sounds of familiar voices lingered as they grew farther away.

"…People from Xing are freaking crazy."

**.**

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><p>[1] She was repeating what atoms carbohydrates are made out of, if anyone cares. She herself probably doesn't even know what she's saying, though.<p>

**A/N: **Thank you for taking the time to read this if you did. Reasons to bash me are because I haven't watched the entire anime, only about 40 episodes, so I'm not familiar with the little details in it. I'm probably going to get hate for naming the character Catalena, when my penname is Cata-nee. Well I think Cata-nee sounds catchy, so I was like, "Cute." Please don't think of it as a Mary-sue trait.

Please review and voice your opinions.

I don't like long prologues, so I usually write first chapters as an eye-opener, so that the reader can become interested and become motivated to read the next.


	2. How to Fuel Fire

**AmiiStarr**: Thank you for the review! I'm happy that you liked it.

**TimeWolf: **So I'm curious; what exactly do you mean by "this type"? Do you mean Greed x OC or something? (By the way, to anyone that cares: I am using the second Greed. I struggle to find Greed/Ling x OC stories that are complete). Thank you for the review, regardless.

**A/N: **_As a last note there is a picture of Catalena that I drew, scanned, and edited a little to help out imagining the scenes. It is on my profile. Please take the time to copy and paste the URL out and glance at her. BTW, I always sucked at coloring, that's why it's in black and white._

Catalena is sadistic and a sociopath, but she does like to be around people. She is also very observative; despite all these cliche qualities, she wasn't always like this. Anyhow, putting aside her chesire smile, I'm not that great but I can only get better.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, I would be feeling accomplished and would not have any reason to be typing this in the first place, now, would I?**  
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><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

_**.  
><strong>_

_| …Maybe a little…|_

**Chapter 2**

How to Fuel Fire

**.**

After the strange and awkward introduction, Catalena decided to lean on Colonel Mustang regardless of how problematic it would be. Carrying her legs across each massive array of cement steps to Central Command, she paused, gathering breath as she stared down.

_Who the hell designed this place to be so damn high, anyway?_

Regardless of the protection of the tunnel's walls, the heat of the afternoon sun still caused beads of sweat to begin streaming down her back. It felt slightly cooler since all she adorned under the trademark alchemist's cloak (Hers in a shade of gray) was a black crop top. Of course the sudden disperse of sweat meant that she was dehydrated.

Still staring down at her shin-high brown boots, she brushed her hands across the white fabric of her capris, feeling her pockets for change. A deep frown resonated, and she remembered that she had to pay for the large meal the Xingese man had conned her into buying. Out of sheer condolences, of course.

Catalena brought one hand up to her still dry forehead, sweeping away her light brown bangs as she stared up at the seemingly endless tunnel. Yes. Why was this place so damn high again? "…Alright, here goes again."

Her sudden motivation to progress was thwarted by a loud voice,

"Come on Al, I swear she'll be in here. We've looked everywhere in Central City by now!" As they passed her on the steps, the flash of blonde hair and red stunned her.

But what captured her attention even more was the noise of _clanging _that sounded after each and every step a suit of armor had climbed. "W-wait for me, brother!" It had called in the voice of a young boy's.

Catalena quietly followed along after them, keeping at an earshot's distance as they fast-walked up the steps. Harboring plenty more energy than she would ever manage.

Besides the child's voice inside the suit of armor, the shorter one looked about fifteen.

"But what if she_ isn't_? What if the Colonel lectures us for not being able to finish a single favor for him—"

The one with a human body suddenly turned around to face his "brother" but he didn't look anything like loving. Conversely, he looked annoyed, "Al, I thought you've known me long enough that I REALLY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT THE COLONEL HAS TO SAY."

Immediately he had blown up, but regardless the suit of armor retorted, "You know, just because you're older, doesn't mean you get to boss me around so much! I'm going to look around the city some more so you're welcome to get yelled at by the Colonel." Satisfied, the seven-foot tall apparently "younger" brother parted ways with the blonde. He traipsed away in a rebellious fashion.

Edward had his fists clenched by his side, his back arched in unsustainable, writhing anger, "AL, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! I'm warning you! I'll—"

Slow clapping that seemed to mock instead of applaud caused him to crane his neck at the taller female standing no more than two feet away from him. Her eyes were mocking, with one thin eyebrow raised as they watched him almost amusingly. She had a sinister looking smile etched on her face as her brown-gloved hands clapped against each other monotone.

Edward's golden eyes vexed at her, already denouncing that she was nothing but a hindrance to him.

"So that piece of metal's actually your _younger _brother? Who knew?" Gray irises traced the boy as he attempted to walk away.

Her comment instantly set off the ticking bomb inside of him before the fuse was even lit. The blonde boy lurched towards her, arms flailing violently, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?"

Catalena smiled, become shifty-eyed as she replied cheerfully, "Would you like me to repeat it?"

Steam erupted from his nostrils, but Edward didn't exactly relish the thought of yelling at a girl. His limbs relaxed and he stood properly, "…I get told that a lot, so once more won't kill me. Yet."

She held her hips as he turned his back on her, and she noticed a mark threaded in black on his crimson cloak's rear. Glancing away from the flamel** [1]** to the back of his blonde braid, she added, "Eh? Your pride has been enduring such insults for how long now? Why in the world is your younger sibling trapped in a body of armor, anyhow?"

Edward's childish demeanor somehow disappeared and he stared hard at the ignorant female, looking depressed. A flat expression on his face, he slowly explained, "I would tell you if it actually mattered, since it's a long story and all." He turned around completely, holding his sides as he thoroughly added, "Look, it's an extremely difficult and confusing scenario, so you're better off not hearing."

"Does it have something to do with human transmutation?"

Edward hadn't said anything after that. From her point of view, he sort of hunched over, staring hard at his black shoes. Catalena smirked, happy that her wild guess had been correct after all.

"…How do you know about human transmutation?"

Catalena grinned, arrogance filling her cunningly attractive face as she held her waist on one side, "Easy. How would anyone else know about it?" She flexed her wrist in front of her, being sure to show the white lining of a transmutation circle on the back her hand. She made it clear for Edward to see, "...You study it. And then, if you're good enough, you take a State Alchemist test."

Edward's previously gay eyes widened with realization. "Oh! Then you're—" He looked back at his short body, fumbling through his pockets.

Catalena still held her side as she watched him with peculiar interest. She even leaned over his lesser in size figure to peek.

His white-gloved fingers curled around the circular object and he pulled it out, dangling it from its long silver chain in front of her. Her colorless irises followed it as it swung from the gesture in a pendulum motion, almost mesmerized as she realized it to be hers. Her arms looked ready to pounce on him as she exclaimed, "Oh hey, is that mine? Sweet, now I won't be late for work anymore!"

Expecting Catalena to grab it, Edward turned around, the complimentary State Alchemist pocket watch tucked safely within his palm, "Now the real reason I'm even here is because Al and I had some information we needed to give to Lieutenant Maes Hughes—"

"…Uh huh." Her pupils bounced along as she watched the trinket clenched within his fingers.

"—Turns out he retired to finish up some family business. And the Colonel just looked at my arrival as an opportunity to mooch off of my State Alchemist responsibilities. And he requested that I find this girl who passed the state exam." Edward's amber optics leered at the corners of his eyes.

"Ah, I see. So the Colonel wanted some kid to fulfill his duty," Catalena leaned on Edward, but she lacked the charismatic entity of before. She looked dangerously abrasive, actually. Edward's neck slowly turned to meet her, inch-by-inch "I won't accept that."

"Ehhh?"

As quickly as she clung onto him like a shadow, she separated from him, putting on an obnoxious air, "I said I won't accept it from you, only the Colonel. When I officially become a State Alchemist, I want it to be memorable."

"Just what the hell are you saying? This is just official identification—NOT so important!" He was now poking it against her, urging for her to take it and then be on her own way.

Catalena shrugged off his constant poking, "Doesn't matter; it's part of the package. Besides, I want my last moments in Central to be grand," she eyeballed him again, grinning almost malevolently.

"You what?" He had echoed after her. "Leaving Central…?"

She gave him a skeptical look. "Problem?"

Edward gave off an irritated vibe. Maybe this girl wasn't as smart as he thought she was. "Being a State Alchemist doesn't mean you're allowed to take all its benefits and then leave. One of its regulations is to obey the orders of the commanding officer, as well as the law."

She smiled as she recited, "The second is to _not transmute gold_," in a singsong voice that made him feel itchy. She then added as she held her chin, "Hmm, what was the last one? Oh, yes!"

Edward pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind.

She watched him with crooked-looking, almost psychotic gray eyes, "…_Never _perform _human transmutation._"

With his still flesh arm he gripped his right, looking away from her. The pocket watch seemed irrelevant, now.

Regardless, she clapped her hands a single time and held her hips again, "Once I get my money and title, I'm leaving this place. I'm not sticking around to become a dog of the military."

"You're stupid."

"Oh, yeah?" She closed one eye, challenging him.

"You realize the consequences of disobeying the State Military, since you're _so smart_, right?" He sarcastically muttered.

She smiled at his words, looking down at his shorter figure with calculating interest, "I'm used to working with the bad guys." Her eyes hovered upwards, and she rethought her words, "Make that, singularly insane people."

"…"

"Oh, but don't worry about me. I've spent my life bending over backwards for a certain guy, and I'm pretty much split about following orders now."

He stared hard, considering her to be a completely different person than what first impressions would have distinguished her. The young but more experienced State Alchemist wasn't at all surprised by her ambitious and greedy intentions. They were one-dimensional and pretty old. He had had enough.

"Alright, then."

"Mm? What was that, shorty?"

Edward smirked at her, his face finally lighting up since a few minutes before their conversation, "How's about a little fight? If I win, you go straight to Colonel Mustang, and you'll listen to what he has to say."

Feigning disinterest, she focused on her brown alchemy gloves; smiling as she tugged at the fingers, "And when I win?"

Edward's eyebrow twitched at her arrogance, but then it softened as he answered in an equally obnoxious tone, "What do you mean when _you _win? I've been a State Alchemist longer than you have; you've got no chance against a skilled Major of the military like me!"

She clapped as he stood with proud poise. But like the first time she had clapped, it was equally plausible as mocking. "State Alchemist, huh? How old are you, anyway, kid?"

"I'M 15!" He proudly fired at her; the pocket watch was dropped into his cloak pockets.

"15?" she repeated, hints of shock apparent within her face and tone. Edward predicted she would shoot out a snide remark, but instead she graciously nodded her head once, "Well, 15's pretty young. I also hear that boys don't reach adolescence until their later years." Without warning, she patted the shorter-than-she Edward's head, "You've still got a lot of growing to do, kid. I'm 18."

He gridded his teeth together as his hands stretched out towards her, imagining to strangle her figure as it contorted into a chuckling nightmare.

Soon enough her laughter died out and she had pushed him away from her. The brunette smirked at him, "Okay, kid, I'll fight you. Name's Catalena. How about you? Or shall I continue calling you shorty?"

Ignoring her attempt to provoke, he smiled back, "It's Edward Elric," he stated proudly. Then he jabbed his thumb towards his face, voicing, "and my catchy nickname is the _Fullmetal Alchemist_."

**.**

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><p>[1] Flamel – the alchemist mark that is found on Edward, Alphonse, and Izumi. It's supposedly proof that the Elric brothers were Izumi's students.<p>

**A/N: **_I'm having loads of trouble trying to figure out a proper last name for Catalena. Would you all kill her or me if she lacked a surname? Pushing that aside, I have the feeling she isn't going to be a likable OC. But that's okay, because treated as a normal character; there are characters that the reader won't like, so I take it as a compliment._

Why wouldn't people like her? She's abrasive, a troll, clever, arrogant, naïve (In the case of not knowing when to shut up), and probably has some hate points already because she has a Philosopher's Stone.

Well I have reasons for giving her one, so she didn't just randomly _come upon it _or something. I know how rare and significant those things are.

**To avoid Mary-sue-itude, I would like to list her faults as a character:** Sarcastic, sociopath (psychotic), arrogant, naïve, doesn't know when to shut up, inability to read the atmosphere at times, selfish, greedy, ambitious, and acts before she thinks.

One can say that her bark is worse than her bite. The point of this is to not categorize her as a Mary-sue, and just be patient. Her inabilities will become evident further into the story.

Thank you, now let's all be posers and streak in the rain.

Please read and review, and thank you for all the alerts! Please tell me what you think!


	3. A Short Thesis

**Wolf: **Thank you so much! I'm happy that my OC isn't cliche~ You've made my day, anonymous reviewer. Checking for updates every few hours~? That's admirable dedication...I think there's a tear in my eyes. Eh, well, the point is I don't think I'll update hourly. Isn't that a bit too extreme? I have three other chapters typed up, and I'm proofreading them to make sure they're valid. But, you'll see an update either tomorrow or the day after~**  
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**TimeWolf: **What a popular penname~ I'm ecstatic that you've reviewed for my second chapter~ Thank you. It's just that I was fearing that the trolling type of characters are disliked. Greed deserves more love~ I don't know why Envy is more popular. Oh, actually, I do. But I'm still envious. e ue**  
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**WhiteOokamiKiss: **Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy that she is liked and different. I decided to just suck up my gut and give her a surname. The name Catalena is actually Romanian, so I decided to just give her a Romanian surname. Nothing special, just a surname. At least her middle name isn't Sparkles, right?**  
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**A/N: **_I had a lot of fun typing this. It'll be my first action-packed, heated trolling session/battle ever. Thank you for even clicking this and taking the time to read it! By the way, are these chapters too short for you? I know that long fanfics aren't very appealing. Example: Even though I find an interesting fanfic with like, 300 reviews but 100 chapters, I get turned off. :( BUT unless it's like, supremely intoxicating, I will read it._**  
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**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Greed wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't like him as much as I do now. You know, like when an artist dies his/her artwork becomes heaps more valuable? That applies here.

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><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

**.**

_|Just for this moment…|_

**Chapter 3**

A Short Thesis

**.**

She did not exactly understand why the child would be called the _Fullmetal Alchemist. _But then again, Führer King Bradley was known to give unusual yet suitable names to the newly appointed State Alchemists. Catalena was slightly anxious about what title she would be bestowed.

Her smile reveled the thought of having an illustrious title. Then she thought about how her fame or infamy—she hadn't thought about her future—would affect this nickname of hers.

"Catalena? You're not getting cold feet, are you?"

Her vision blew away in a cloud of smoke and she found herself staring down at the blonde alchemist.

He sneered after she hadn't uttered a word, "Oh, I get it; you're scared of me and my cool nickname, aren't you? That's right, my title is Fullmetal; It's only natural that you'd be swooning in my presence right now. " He grinned and posed threateningly in front of her, even wiggling his white-gloved fingers.

The brunette's senses finally came down to earth, and she realized she had just been insulted. "Eh? Oh please. Swooning over you? Sorry kid, but you must be this tall to ride this ride," she shrugged her shoulders, hovering one of her hands over Edward's head for emphasis.

True to his hotheaded nature and already broiling patience, he clapped his hands together, and in a shroud of blue lightning reconstructed a blade out of his right arm. Without hesitation, he lunged at her.

Catalena's stormy eyes widened, and within the last few seconds, was able to step backwards and dodge the metal blade by the breadth of a hair. Edward's swing caused him to fall forwards, and by the time he stood up straight Catalena had retreated a few safe feet away from him.

She looked amazed, smirking through and through, "Oh, wow! So that's why they call you the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Colorless eyes gazed intently at the automail arm. "I heard of you before. Who knew the revered and heroic Edward Elric would strike to kill when he was the one who challenged a poor and helpless girl that was myself?"

Edward's golden eyes traced to her periodicals, still dazed that she had somehow dodged him. Of course, he had never meant to kill her with it. Just shut her endless trap.

Catalena lowered her brows, appearing slightly disappointed yet still retaining a wry smirk, "Lucky for me, his short height detained him from landing a lethal blow~"

A vein pushed itself through his skin, and he had returned his blade arm, satisfied with just punching this annoying girl square in the face. Or, maybe in the chest, since it was never right to hit a girl in the first place. But then wouldn't she get breast cancer? Wouldn't that be horrible on his account?

Looking past it all, he charged with a single objective, "ARRGGGHHHH!" The blonde roared while forcing himself towards her. His fists were raised and once he got close enough, swung.

She easily perceived his direct actions, merely swaying to the side. Catalena didn't even try to counterattack, so Edward took his chances and began swinging his fists again.

Just as all the others, she would only move to the side, duck, or stray backwards. His fists would only meet air, and his temper would only soar. The more angry he became, the more reckless his attacks were, and Edward had begun realizing that perhaps her strategy was to tire out her opponents first (As well as taunt) before fighting them.

"What the hell—Stop moving so much, dammit!" Edward would cry while they were in the heat of the action.

Not even hindered by conversing, she laughed, though her gray eyes tracked his arm movements, "Why don't _you_ stop missing?"

If looks could kill, Catalena would have become a ghost, because it seemed Edward's pupils disappeared in his fury. He ushered a battlecry just as his fist sliced through the dry air.

Catalena ducked, her gloved hands making contact with the ground, and in a flash of blue light, transmuted a pillar of the ground from under her feet to elevate her into the air. The blonde she was fighting witnessed her first act of alchemy, and groaned as he saw that it curved backwards to the roof of a low building. Catalena leaped off the pillar, and as she stepped towards the edge of the rooftop it would shrink back into the ground.

In pure enjoyment she smirked down at the Fullmetal Alchemist, "You getting tired yet~? Mr. Fullmetal? Can you reach me up here?" To her, enough wasn't enough, and she waved down at him.

"I'LL KILL YOU." Clapping again, Edward slapped his hands against the ground and performed the very same act she had, except his pillar had to tilt forwards.

Seeing that he was still persistent on fighting her up close, she skipped away before his pillar became close enough.

Edward kept his reconstruction of the rock up, causing it to chase after her in a train-like motion to sum up for time. He raised his metal arm in preparation to grab her by her gray hood, "I've got you now, slick bastard!"

She had turned to look at the advancing cylinder of solid rock, and only had enough time to duck away from Edward's grabby hands. Regardless, his fingers found the fabric of her alchemists' cloak, and he grinned triumphantly as he yanked it, finding just enough power to pull her along with it.

The rock he had used crashed into the ground, and the blonde leapt off to poke at his captive. Sneering as the dust cloud began to disperse; he turned to look at the gray cloak in his right arm, "Not so fast now, are you, Ms. Witty—" Golden eyes resembled saucers as Edward realized the only object in his hand was a gray fabric. "GAH. WHAT IS THIS. When did she—" He looked around in jittery motion.

The smoke cloud had disappeared, and standing near the crumbled trail of dirt was the lone figure of Catalena. Edward noticed she didn't look as happy as she usually did. She looked vexed, if it was possible.

"You slipped out of your clothes?" Edward disdainfully swallowed. He noticed it truly was only a crop top she wore underneath, but he wasn't nervous by this because Winry would always wear one of those too.

Catalena covered her upper arms and rubbed them, furrowing her brows and for once, frowning, "Yeah. If you could please be so kind and give me back my cloak, I would be happy to continue this little game of dog and monkey." She opened one of her palms, fingers flexing for the object.

Edward glanced at the possession in his hands before staring at her awaiting person again, "That depends. Are you actually going to fight me this time, or are you just going to run away?"

She scoffed at him, still looking unamused, "It's not running away, dumbass. If you had some lunatic midget swinging their fists at you; wouldn't you prefer to dodge too?" Edward's face cracked at this, "It's logic." She added, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, well, it's frustrating to fight you since you move around so damn much! I'm starting to think that you're probably just one of the 'all talk and no fight' type of people!"

"…"

"You probably aren't capable of fighting me; that's why all you do is run away." Edward smirked as he saw Catalena growing angry for the first time since they'd met.

For a few seconds there was only the silence and remaining dust lingering in between them. They both stood on decent sized ends of the rooftop, each in wait for the others' action. The brunette, who had covered her emotions with a mask of apathy (Possibly due to annoyance), simply said, "You're right. If it actually were a real fight, I'd probably react accordingly."

Edward's response was a simple, confused, "What-?"

Catalena crossed her arms over her chest, smiling arrogantly and raising her thin eyebrows, "I mean, if you actually were worth fighting…" she paused to let it soak in "…I would take the time to hit you in the face, too. But you obviously aren't experienced in the matter, so I find it a bother to use my alchemy against you."

"...BASTARD. I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!" Dropping her clothes, he pulled up his right sleeve; his long legs bounding towards her in mere moments.

Again the previous style of battle ensued. Edward would flail angrily at Catalena, and Catalena would brush his attacks to the side. Surprisingly, for this time, Catalena stuck her leg out in front of him just as he had finished missing a punch of many. He would cry out in shock, tripping and then falling to the ground.

Catalena grinned down at the crashed figure, but soon enough her smirk would transform into a symbol of confusion. Edward was one with the ground, and Catalena was too busy looking down at him that she didn't look up.

A wall of stone rose from behind her. Initially, she would crane her neck upwards to gaze at it, and become unaware of the spears of small rock that snaked their way around her body, holding her in place against the slab. She would only utter a 'tch' as she was rendered immobile.

Edward rose up from his fallen position, traipsing towards her and performing another act of dominance. Catalena's hands were strapped against her sides of the slab, so Edward took the liberty to confiscate her brown alchemy gloves. It was her substitution for a transmutation circle, so without it she could not perform alchemy to his chagrin.

Despite being subdued, she still mocked him, "Taking my alchemy gloves, huh? You really are afraid of me, kid."

Edward retained a composed and serious look. He was not one to gloat when it came to fights like these. Without answering her, he walked by, disappearing for a minute and then reappearing with her dismissed gray alchemists' cloak. He placed her gloves within his own cloak before finally speaking, "It's not that. It's just that I don't trust you. Completely different story, and don't even bother arguing with me on that."

Catalena, still clenched within the bands of stone, replied half-heartedly, "Whatever. Congratulations. I guess I have to report back to Colonel Mustang, now…" Quietly she cursed to herself.

The younger of the two pressed his hand against the slab of rock, deconstructing it into a mound of dirt. Catalena became free again. Her first act was to swat rubble off of her person. Edward graciously handed her gray cloak. Although hesitantly, she accepted and donned it. Fitting her hands within her pockets she felt a smooth, round object. Pulling it out by a chain that was attached; she hung it before her face, finding it out to be the silver pocket watch from before.

Out of the corner of her thoughtful eyes, Edward was watching her with a scrutinizing and stern gaze. He gave her one look before turning around with a shrug and walking away. Understanding her part of the deal—and that he wanted her to follow him, Catalena's steps obediently traced after his.

When she followed this boy, she thought there was something nostalgic about it. It was far from a good memory. Silent eyes and unvoiced opinions drifted between them, and Catalena was probably the only one thinking so heavily upon the simple act. It wasn't that she had forgotten about when she was taught by _him_; it was that she _wanted _to forget.

There was a reason she refused to become a dog of the military, _yet again._

_**.**_

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><p><strong>AN: **That seemed shorter than the other chapters. :| I hope this proves that she isn't a trolling killing machine. She prefers to watch from the sidelines, because she isn't so strong as you think. Philosopher's Stones aren't infinitely useful to those who cannot use them well. _Or in this case, _she refuses to use it. Thank you for reading! This was very fun to type out. I hope you were able to imagine the fight without much difficulty. :( Please read and review.

I wonder, can anyone guess who was capable of pushing Catalena around? I think it's pretty obvious. If you do, please keep it to yourself just in case others aren't aware. Thank you and come again next time.


	4. Awkward Reunion

**WhiteOokamiKiss: **/throws confetti

Thank you for taking the time to review and for the compliment! And goodie, because all my chapters are about 2500-3500 words up until chapter 8~

**Cursed Bunny: **Greed/Ling deserves more love! :D Thank you! Actually, when I compared Gluttony and Ling, I didn't mean for it to make people think that Catalena actually has some sort of acquaintance with the thing. She knows about the idea of Homunculi, but she hasn't ever seen one.

I can't say thank you enough for everything you've said and advised in your reviews! So I'm just going to end this before I explode into pandas and sunshine~

**TimeWolf: **Thank you for taking the time to review, even if it is a couple of words! I used to be short, too. But recently, there are people who are shorter than I am, so it's not so bad anymore~

**A/N: **_Catalena's witty tongue sort of dies out in this chapter. And it is revealed that she does take an interest in money, but she doesn't seem to have any source of income since before her actions in taking part in the State Alchemist Program. Speaking of which, one of the reasons she even joined SAP (_**_SAP. How ironic.) _**_were because of the grants! Unfortunately for her, it's apparently against the rules to abuse this privilege. Thank you for coming to this page, and enjoy**.**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim any rights to FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, then Mustang's dream of miniskirts would be fulfilled.

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><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

**.**

_|My ego just died…|_

**Chapter 4**

Awkward Reunion

**.**

"Oh. Hello there, Miss Artenie. **[1]**" The cool and composed voice of Colonel Roy Mustang rung in Edward and Catalena's ears as they entered his office. He was laid back in his chair, feet set comfortably on the desk. One would question his authority, but since neither Riza Hawkeye nor any of his subordinates were present, he decided that relaxing wasn't going to hurt anyone.

He desperately needed to relax after everything that had happened. **[2]**

Edward, as oblivious and presumptuous as he was, instantly lectured his superior officer, pointing a finger to stress this, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? Is this what you mean by, 'other important matters', letting me do your dirty work, lazy—"

"Why Fullmetal. I didn't expect you to find Miss Artenie so easily. I guess I underestimated your abilities to _reach _my expectations." Roy smirked from his comfortable position.

Edward began foaming at the mouth. Today was not a good day for him, being teased for his height for the thousandth time.

Catalena brushed past the steaming younger State Alchemist, greeting Roy Mustang in a half-hearted formal tone, "Colonel Mustang, and how are you? Feeling pretty damn fulfilled, right? Is it true I passed?"

His sharp black eyes trailed down her expectant gaze to a silver chain hanging out of her gray cloak's pocket. Despite her rude etiquette, he simply replied, "I think you know already. Or is it that you want the pleasure of me officially announcing you as one? "

She frowned, flicking her wrist in the air, "I don't know; isn't that your _job_?"

Roy fixed himself on the seat, resting his head on folded hands, "Very well then, Miss Artenie, " he sighed, "…Congratulations. You have passed the State Alchemist program."

"…Wow. I think my ego just died a little."

Mustang smirked at her, "Since you're now subject under the control of the military, it's safe to say that you're now obligated to follow orders _of_ the State Military; which includes _my own _orders."

"Boo. Stinky orders."

"I now expect full responsibility from you and the promise that you will address me in a formal manner."

"...Boo you."

"I have your State Alchemist license and certification, if you would come here." He waved her over, pulling out a set of papers from his desk drawers and placing it in front of him.

"One question before I take a look at this and forever hold my peace."

The Colonel gave out an exasperated sigh. He didn't look like he wanted to play games, but he should have predicted it. "…What is it?"

"Do I have to wear those tacky uniforms?"

Edward glanced between the two, expecting Roy to punish the girl on her low-key nature and then lecture her about how illustrious the uniforms were and that she should respect them. Surprisingly, he offered an alternative.

"I disagree on the argument that they are tacky. For example…," Roy dug into his desk again. "These _special _uniforms are only for _female _officers."

"_Special?" _She repeated, skeptical. As she muttered this, Roy giddily obtained a _very _short blue cloth in his hands.

"Would you like to wear a miniskirt instead~?" **[3]**

"Denied."

Leaving Edward behind, the newly appointed State Alchemist casually shuffled through, her stormy eyes searching anxiously for her papers. Mustang gestured the miniskirt towards her but she hissed at him and instead snatched the papers from under his elbows. She held them in front of her face with an accomplished smile.

Immediately a few seconds after reading through it, she frowned, even giving off a squeak of dismay. It earned Edward's curiosity, so he came nosing in, "What is it? Did the Führer give you a lame nickname, too?"

"I actually agree to King Bradley's standards when choosing these titles. They all tell something about that individual alchemist. Eh, Fullmetal?"

The Colonel earned another hiss while Catalena only muttered under her breath, "_Frost _Alchemist." She thought about the title, staring endlessly into the fine black print. Her eyes spotted the refined signature of King Bradley.

_Then again, it does sort of relate to me…_

In the background, Edward and Mustang were engaged in a heated argument.

Catalena folded the papers and placed them into her pocket, balling her fist toward her mouth and coughing. "So, kid, I guess that means we're now officially equals."

Edward craned his neck at her, first drawing a blank. Then he sneered, "Like hell we are. Don't you remember who it was who kicked your ass just a few moments ago?"

"Don't you remember that I wasn't even trying? I'm an alchemist for example, and I didn't find the need to use alchemy."

"That's your own problem. Maybe if you had used your alchemy, you would have won, dumbass."

She looked at him for a few moments, even at his lips that mouthed,' logic'.

"By the way, since you're called the Frost Alchemist, I'm guessing that your alchemy has something to do with ice?"

Roy had begun playing with a pen as it seemed Edward and Catalena were too involved with themselves. Catalena rubbed the back of her head, demotivated and finding it a bother to explain her alchemy. So she just cut to the chase, "It goes a little deeper than that. The frost is used as a protective layer covering my fists. It's created after conjoining hydrogen and oxygen atoms to create water, and then I lower the temperature below the dew point of air and the freezing point of water."

Edward raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, "So? You create snow around your hands? Just how in the hell is that useful?" He threw his own hands in the air in rage.

She smiled at him, holding her index finger beside her head, "Well, despite my ability to create snow cones whenever I wish...question, little prodigy boy. Exactly what does frost do?"

"It clings onto stuff."

"Glad you did your homework. It becomes an obstacle and makes it hard to move. Now what I do with Frost Alchemy is either use it as a medium for my own close quarters combat attacks, or I use it to hinder the enemy and slow their movements."

"Oh, so you fight hand-to-hand?" Well that explains why she was so athletic.

"Yeah. But the full extent of my ability happens when I punch somebody in the face or whatever."

"Huh...I'm sort of relieved you didn't bother to fight back earlier, then. I don't want frostbite."

"You won't just get frostbite, shorty." She grinned at him in a malicious way. Edward's eyes slowly drifted apart in dismay as her lips parted and added, "_You'll explode." _**[4] A/N: Will explain more thoroughly on bottom. Just keep reading.**

"I'LL WHAT!"

Edward and Catalena reached a connection in the form of friendly conversation since that moment. However Roy decided to shatter that friendship, ushering the woman's first orders.

"Putting your personal matters aside, I'll be assigning your first orders, Major Artenie."

"Don't call me that. I prefer 'Miss'. Major sounds manly."

"Due to lack of security since the 5th Laboratory's destruction, Führer King Bradley has asked that you be assigned to Central Prison."

"WHAT."

The Colonel closed his eyes, challenging her, "Are you defying your orders?"

"…"

Roy Mustang waited diligently for her planned response. Unlike Edward Elric, who was a hotheaded, prideful little brat, Catalena was actually engaging in conversation. He had high expectations that she would retort in a clever and amusing fashion.

"Where's my money?" She bluntly demanded.

"…It will be delivered to you shortly."

"_Damn straight," _she muttered out of earshot.

**. **

**.**

**.**

"This is pretty lame… " Catalena talked to herself whilst patrolling the smelly corridors of Central Prison. There were moments when she would pass by a prisoner that would woo at her, and in response she would shake the keys in front of their cell and taunt them:

INMATE 1: "Hey, why don't you let me out of this cell, babe?"

Catalena: "Hey, why don't you let yourself out of the cell."

INMATE 2: "I don't belong here!"

Catalena: "Clearly you do."

INMATE 3: "Come closer…"

Catalena: "I would, but there appears to be iron bars in between us."

**. . .**

The Frost Alchemist pushed her back against a wall and she sighed tiredly. It had since become night after Mustang ordered her to patrol Central Prison for an unknown period of time, and all she had done was get to know each prisoner personally. By personally, asking how the hell they got into prison in the first place.

She asked the sensible ones, and she still had about half of the prison to go to sate her boredom. Catalena stood up again, sticking her hands in her pocket as she followed the brightly lit hallway.

With each step, a growing sensation tugged at her insides. There was only one thing she feared about going through the prison. Every time she passed a cell and would peek into it, the alchemist wondered if she would find herself staring back into the eyes of the very person who made the biggest imprint on her of her entire life.

Strolling through the halls, hushed voices became louder, and the hallway became slightly more active. Come to think of it, through her patrols in the higher parts of the prison, she found that there weren't many people stationed there. Now that she was entering the lower parts, perhaps more dangerous people lurked here.

_"Yoohoo~_ Catalena, right?" Her face turned towards the source of the sound, and instantly it contorted into disbelief and shock.

"YOU—"

The brunette stared dumbfounded into the shifty-eyes of that Xingese guy. The one who desperately wanted to get his hands on a Philosopher's Stone. She had no idea why, either. "Surprised to see me? Did you forget that I was arrested for sexual harassment and illegally crossing the border?" He looked innocent as he said this.

Catalena blushed but the redness melted away, "Yeah, I'm surprised. But it's not my fault you 'lost' your entry visa and that you somehow 'tripped' and landed on me. It's just that you're the last thing on my mind, Mister…" She paused, struggling to remember his name.

"It's Ling! Ling Yao. And all that truly was an accident!"

"Oh right," she replied, leaning her back beside his cell door. Ling slipped his hands out of the bars, cooing.

"Hey, since you saved me from dying of starvation, would you mind unlocking this door for me~?" He dangled his hands, showing two silver bracelets; one with his name engraved on it and the other with a series of numbers.

She glanced at him, crossing her arms. Then she pursed her lips and looked away, "No. Because then I would get in trouble."

"Puh-leeeeeezzz, " he whined, tears pouring out of his still closed eyes.

Catalena scowled at how noisy he was. This guy was odd to her. He was the only person she did not tease or attack with words. It could have been because of his seemingly innocent nature, or perhaps she secretly admired his ambition.

She stared at him, ignoring the puddle that had somehow formed under her boots. Maybe it was because Ling seemed to harbor an unseen potential, and she feared and/or respected him. She briefly remembered how he _inconspicuously _found out where her Philosopher's Stone was.

Testing her hypothesis, she inquired to Ling, "So you said you were from Xing. Is it hot there?"

The squinty-eyed foreigner guy hesitated before becoming flattered that she was curious about his home. "Oh yeah~ Sometimes it gets really hot. But most of the time it's mild."

"That sounds nice. I was born and raised in Briggs. It's insanely cold up there, so I was just wondering how life was like where you live."

"Briggs? That sounds terrible." Catalena's face cracked in sudden shock at his bluntness. "From what little Amestrian geography I know, Briggs has always been a defense point from the neighboring country of Drachma."

She forgave him after that, "Well yeah. Very boring. There's also barely any women there. Save for Major General Armstrong, but she kind of scares me. "

"No women? Intensely cold? Sounds awful!" He whined, nosing his face between the bars to get a better look at Catalena's expression.

"That's not the worst of it, Ling."

"It's not? There's more? What's worse than being cold and woman-less!"

Catalena's face was the very symbol of dark, malevolent nature as she slowly craned her neck towards him, speaking in a low, menacing tone, "…The food there tastes terrible."

"UWAAAH! THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN THAT!"

In his pent-up displeasure, Ling began swinging his arms uncontrollably, an irritating jingle of his silver bracelets being knocked against each other sounded. She grit her teeth at his childish gestures. Maybe sharing a little of her childhood wasn't the brightest idea. She was about to yell at him when the flustered cries of Central soldiers rung like music in her ears.

"Oh~ what was that?" Ling chimed, feeling instantly better as he looked down towards the hall.

Catalena followed suit, and they both saw soldiers run down the hall, screaming 'INTRUDER, INTRUDER, ALL HANDS ON DECK, WHAT, ?'.There was also an unknown, ghostlike voice that's diction was not very diverse.

"I don't know… " She simply replied to the Xingese prisoner.

There were multiple gunshots that sounded like they ricocheted off of metal. Struggling shouts from the Central soldiers and then came the sound of something _swooshing _through the air. Afterward, the familiar sound of bodies dropping; however in some special cases, flew backwards through the halls for Catalena and Ling to see.

They both gave dumbfounded looks, although Ling's was an _extra_-special dumbfounded look.

A large, spiky figure walked casually through the hall, and it stopped once it caught sight of Ling and Catalena.

"Look, it's another one of those walking, talking, armored beings," Catalena muttered, looking blankly at the glowing red eyes of Barry the Chopper.

"Oh, so you've met Alphonse Elric, too?" Ling inquired from his position behind the bars.

"Are you one of the guards here, sweetheart?" Barry pointed one of his cleavers at Catalena.

She dropped her eyebrows, still mustering up a smile, "Um, unfortunately yes, but, if you would be kind and considerate to a helpless girl like me, I'd be happy to walk out of here without a second thought~"

Ling gasped, "Huh~? But I thought you were an alchemist, Catalena?"

She shrugged, looking exposed and vulnerable, "Uh, yeah, I just became a State Alchemist and was stationed here but after I met you, I met Edward Elric and he kind of confiscated my alchemy gloves. Plus, I have no chalk or whatever to draw a transmutation circle. I could use blood, but that's just...no."

"So you can't use alkahestry, either?"

"What is alkahestry?" She asked stupidly.

Barry the Chopper had by then walked past them. He didn't want to or was allowed to fight Catalena (Falman would be furious), so he just outright ignored her. Catalena and Ling watched him in shock. "Hey, wait, I have orders to guard this prison and I'm pretty sure that applies to walking armored ghost people. I get paid for this."

"If you have orders to detain me, then go ahead and give it a try. You said you can't perform alchemy, so why should I bother and hurt a sweetheart like you?" Barry said it so simply, too.

Catalena paused and rethought everything.

"…On second thought, why don't we all bust out of here and I'll pretend to be your prisoner?"

For some reason, pink hearts appeared around Barry, and he sent out this vibe that described love. "Oh, sweetheart! That's an excellent idea!" Barry closed in on her, his armored hands becoming very grabby. Especially that huge cleaver that was edging dangerously close to her face.

She slipped away from him, "WHOA—hands off, Mr. Ghost man. Just because I can't perform alchemy doesn't mean I can't punch you in the face."

Barry pointed to his chest, "If you want to punch me, punch me right here in the heart so I can feel your love flow through my hollow body~!"

"…"

"Oh, and if you don't mind rescuing the foreigner from Xing, I'll be happy to do whatever you want~" Ling added in a sing-song tone.

Barry didn't show a tinge of emotion as he faced the imprisoned Xingese man. "…Wait, from Xing, you say?"

"Uh-huh!"

The last thing guards thought they saw were three oddly dressed individuals running throughout the prison to some specific destination.

**.**

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**.**

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><p><strong>[1] <strong>Artenie is a common Romanian surname. Catalena was originally also a Romanian name, and the reason this OC has this name is because of my lack of creativity.

**[2] – **The death of his best friend, Maes Hughes.

**[3] – **It's an old gag that one of Mustang's priority in becoming Führer is to force all female military soldiers to wear miniskirts. Catalena is not amused.

**[4] - **I didn't explain it very well in the story, so I'm going to now. Basically Catalena creates a thin, multi-layered frost to cover her fists. She doesn't catch any frostbite because of her special thermal-control gloves. (She also has knee high boots, so she sometimes uses it to cover her legs.) Now, she mentioned that it helps her hit harder and hinders her enemies because it freezes and/or clings to them. The idea is because at the knuckles of that frost is the solid form of carbon dioxide in the shape of tiny, hollow icicles; AKA DRY ICE. The last thing she mentioned was that her frosty fists are able to **explode. **The tiny spikes on her knuckles are dry ice, with warm water encased inside.

What happens when the container between dry ice and warm water is breached?

BOOM, FROST BOMB!

She punches/kicks somebody and they should suffer a small, gaseous explosion of intense cold and frostbite in the struck area.

**A/N: **I love Ling. He is sososososo happy and easy-going even the witty Catalena can't find the words to placate him. Speaking of Catalena, she was a little nicer this chapter. It's because she's bummed out from having to serve in the military again. Thank you for reading this if you did and please review~ I don't care if it's a one word review, just please do it! They make me feel motivated. Thank you, come again.


	5. Strung Along

**TimeWolf: **Thank you! What is your favorite part? Because there are some episodes that Cat won't participate in...

**Random girl person D: **I'm happy that you both enjoyed it! Thank you for the review! They fill me with love~

**Wolf: **I guess that means you like it, considering I also agree with those comparisons. It's funny that I'm actually not trying to even make her funny~ Thank you so much, it means a lot~ D: Don't explode! Then you wouldn't be able to read this for me!

**AmiiStarr: **I don't usually read other people's fanfics, but I'm happy that I came up a notch higher than they did. I'm relieved; I thought people would be confused on how her techniques work. Thank you for reviewing!

**Cursed Bunny: **I love Roy, too! I guess I just like arrogant people. eu e Perhaps more Roy+Catalena over Ed bashing will commence in further chapters. Greed/Ling, yay! And I love Ling, he's so happy! I loved that episode when Barry broke him out and he said he was only 15 years old. :3 At least you didn't name it Sacred Island or something like that.

**KuramaMustangElric: **Thank you for reviewing my chappies! To be honest, the miniskirt deal was just a last minute addition. I really love the idea that one of Mustang's goals was to change the female uniform to miniskirts, and I thought that somebody had to tell the truth about those uniforms. _They're not really tacky, though. But Catalena thinks they are._

**VermillioN.O: **Goodie, it's not bad! eu e You're very perceptive on her alchemy technique, /winkwink. I'm glad the way she uses alchemy isn't very confusing~ And quoting Ling, "I WIIIILLLLL~" keep updating! AND I KNOW GREED DESERVES MORE LOVE! It kinda sucks the way he dies. But when he did I thought his little form thing looked cute, so.

He died cute in my opinion. eu e

**WhiteOokamiKiss: **Who ISN'T interested in money?

**A/N: **_Thank you so much for everything... if it weren't for the guilt of not finishing this story, I would have died from joy already. Thank you for taking your time to read this. I apologize in advance if the story is moving too fast to keep up with the anime...which means Barry, Ling, and Cat won't have much convoluted parties together. Not to mention BARRY DIES IN LIKE TWO EPISODES. D:This chapter isn't really that funny or anything, but I had to post it to lead to following important events._

_I also just found out that Ed and Al's journey begins in 1915! Which means Catalena being 18 has really bit me in the butt. This is going to stall my updates~ I also have an essay and a Socratic Seminar I have to read for, so I guess no more updating daily. Just satisfy yourself with this chapter~ Sorry!  
><em>

**Disclaimer: **I claim no rights to FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Pride wouldn't "die" and become a normal kid with a dot on his forehead because creepy, two-faced children like him are awesome. Well...he's _sort _of like a kid..._**  
><strong>_

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><p><strong><em>Avaricious<em>**

**.**

_|Not really…|_

**Chapter 5**

Strung Along

**.**

"So, Barry the Slicer, what are you doing breaking into Central Prison all by your lonesome?" The only female in the group muttered whilst keeping a steady pace with the furry looking armored guy. At the immediate fire of weak guns, she and Ling had spread their selves against a wall uncomfortably.

"It's Barry the _Chopper, _get it straight, sweetheart! Slicer was my old business partner! " He had thrown the comment over his shoulder. Barry was the only one of the trio who could actually fight the prison guards, so Ling and Catalena had to hide and peek their noses around corners like mice.

"Listen, you, I have the right to call you whatever I want since _I'm _the hostage, here. And, geez, whoever created you guys weren't very creative with your names…" She narrowed her eyes at the being, seeing that the coast was clear.

"All of these prison guards are really bothersome! I wish there was a way we could walk right by." Barry chided, rubbing the hole on his helmet. It was from a shotgun blast that was aimed from point blank range.

"I'm not a math whiz, but I'm pretty sure the chances of doing so are zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero—" Ling's voiced drifted into the background as Catalena spoke up.

"—What are you even doing here anyway? If I really was taken as a hostage against my will, I'd have slipped away from you a long time ago." She spoke indignantly at the ghost being.

Barry didn't reply, only stepped over to face and examine her. As Catalena gave him indifferent, slight apathetic eyes, a look of realization was evident in his glowing red pupils.

"Sweetheart, you just gave me an idea! Hostages _can _be useful at some moments, I guess."

As Ling's pointless grinning face appeared behind her, Catalena only skeptically muttered, "Idea…?"

**. . .**

"OUT OF THE WAY! WE'VE GOT A STATE ALCHEMIST AS A HOSTAGE AND WE'RE NOT AFRAID OF CHOPPING HER UP!" Barry hollered at the peak of his voice, directed towards a group of Central guards they had run into. In his metal love grip, Catalena was found clawing at his arm with an illegible expression as he dragged her along. His other arm bore a carving knife, which he pointed threateningly at the Frost Alchemist's face.

Ling, from behind the protection of the huge body of Barry, would add, "Yes! You wouldn't want to cause the death of a virgin, right? That would be terrible! How could you live with yourselves?"

The girl only offered muffled cries from under Barry's affectionate grip.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot!" One of them would always cry.

And so Barry and Ling would be able to stroll on by, knocking them unconscious once they drew close so they wouldn't be able to oppose them later.

To Catalena's relief, she was finally dropped in front of a cell. Barry had finally reached his destination point. "I've been looking for you, sweetheart~"

She would turn to him for questioning, but it seemed he was referring to another woman. Her eyes narrowed. What a lady-killer.

**.**

**.**

**.**

They'd picked up another one of the inmates. Her name was Maria Ross and she was suspected of being the prime suspect of Brigadier General Maes Hughes murder, which was not so long ago. As the woman ran alongside the three, Catalena dismissed her of being very malevolent. There was just no way she could have been the one who would kill whoever this Hughes person was without reason.

Of course, as they proceeded through a back way of Central Prison and out into an array of alleyways, the very identity of this Maria Ross person seemed trivial to her. To add to that, they had run into two very unsuspecting people.

"…What the…? Shorty?"

The golden eyes of Edward Elric stared back at the four faces before him. Alphonse appeared behind him, and he spoke for them both, "Lieutenant Ross? Ling?"

"Edward? Alphonse?"

"Bigger Elric?"

"Hiyah guys! What are you doing here?"

"I COULD ASK THE SAME OF YOU—"

"Cut the chitchat! Sweetheart #2, you slip into that alleyway straight to the warehouse district! No one should be able to see you!" Barry directed Maria Ross towards an exit beside them.

Ross gave the two boys a glance before obeying Barry's orders. "Wait—Lieutenant Ross!" She didn't turn back.

Catalena's eyes strayed from every body she was with and tried to perceive their emotions. Apparently this Maria Ross person was a very important person. Or maybe they were after her because she was a fugitive… Catalena didn't know the story, and she honestly didn't care.

While everyone stood still Catalena was the first to speak, "Uh, hey, Elric."

"Who are you?"

"Catalena?"

She gave a flat face and narrowed her eyes when both of the children answered her. Oh, right, they were brothers. She had forgotten the short one was related to the hunk of metal. "…The short one." She glanced at Edward, "I'm being held voluntary prisoner by this ghost man because you have yet to return my alchemy gloves."

Before Edward could relinquish them, a loud explosion erupted somewhere very near. The five of them looked towards the blast, and could spot the sparks of flames fanning against the sides of the building. "Looks like they got her," Barry announced.

Without warning Edward pushed through them all, running down the same path Ross had earlier. Alphonse covered his brother's advance by attacking Barry, but the suit of armor jumped out of the way.

He had then retreated back into the depths of the alleyways. "Missed me! Come on, foreigner! You too, sweetheart #1!"

"Sweetheart…?" Catalena muttered whilst following after him.

"Oh-kay!" Ling cried after him.

"Wait! Ling! Why are you with a person like him?"

"I'll have to explain things later! Bye Al!"

Barry, Ling, and Catalena had darted in the opposite direction of the explosion. Keeping up with the clanging of the suit of armor, they eventually arrived in a secluded, ragged apartment with an old man inside.

Well… he looked old.

"Warrant Officer, right? What's your name again?" Catalena blandly pointed at the man playing chess with himself in the room.

The silver-haired squinty-eyed military officer gaped at the two visitors Barry the Chopper had brought home. He cupped his face and threatened to pull his short hair out, hollering, "WHAT THE HELL, BARRY! What HAPPENED?"

The armored man passed through the cluttered apartment room and seated himself on the other side of the chess table, "I broke into prison and freed Miss Ross, and while I was at it, took these two hostages."

"…"

"Hey there~"

"HOSTAGES?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

Catalena stared out of the small window and watched Ling create something. It was now early afternoon, and during the night before, she was 'kidnapped' by Barry the Chopper. The reason was to avoid inclusion within the Maria Ross incident; afterward, she decided to remain his hostage until she can become 'rescued'.

But as Catalena rested her head on her fist and watched Ling from above, there was something inside of her that told her that she wouldn't be able to avoid the matter. In fact, she probably would have been better off staying in the prison and shooting her pride down. After all, she had already lost to the Fullmetal midget. What worse could become of her telling her superiors that she was 'defeated in combat by an armored ghost being'?

"…Hey, Ling. What're you doing?"

The squinty-eyed Xingese man smiled at her, holding a skewered fish in one hand, "Building a signal fire."

Still watching him fiddle with sticks and grass outside, she decided to dig a little deeper inside of him. "…Didn't you tell me that you wanted to find a Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yeah~"

"What for?"

"Well...let's see. Do you know about the history of Xing?"

"Hmm…um, is it about the Emperor having many wives or something?"

"…Sort of. And what is the result of that?"

"…Many babies."

"Exactly! I am one of those babies."

She instantly smirked down at him, finding amusement in his choice of wording. And yet she didn't mock or tease him, "…So you're a prince of Xing? How old are you?"

"Uh-huh~ I'm 15."

"15?" she repeated, with much more serious emotion than when she had met Edward Elric. It's ironic that she was surprised at Edward, since he was short for his age, because now in the case of Ling, he was tall for his age. Not to mention he had the body build of a twenty year-old. "Are you serious?"

"Cross my heart!"

"You're full of surprises, Ling. And you're trying to impress your country by finding the secret to immortality...how ambitious. But I agree with your logic." Ling raised an eyebrow at this. Not many people he met with agreed with his objective. " By the way, you mentioned before that you had subjects?"

In the blink of an eye, two figures dressed in black appeared beside Ling just as he was taking a bite out of the smoked fish. Catalena pressed both of her hands against the edge of the window, rubbing her eyes and then opening them again to make sure it wasn't a mirage. "Wha-?"

"Wowww, impressive response time!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

**ABH.**

**(As Barry's "Hostage")**

"So 'Barry the Chopper'…you're supposed to be a very infamous serial killer…but here you are working with the military. Why's that?" Catalena rested her head on her fist, watching Barry and Falman play a very amateur game of chess.

His large, spiny hands had hastily placed his Queen on the offense. "It's a long story, sweetheart, you shouldn't burden yourself with my tragic past." He stated it simply, which completely dismissed the idea of his past being _tragic._

She scowled at him, not convinced. "Just how tragic is it?"

"I was used as a human experiment after I was captured for being a maniacal serial killer. Then they alchemically bounded my soul to this body, and I was told to guard the 5th Laboratory." Falman had captured his Queen, but Barry had yet to display any emotion. He still retained that humorous nature, however.

"5th Laboratory?"

"Alchemically bound? So you really are immortal, huh?" Came the sudden voice of Ling, who had somehow climbed his way into the apartment through a window, inquired Number 66.

"How did you get in here, foreigner? Aren't you supposed to be doing that little favor I asked of you?" Barry turned towards Ling, who was seated cross-legged on the windowsill.

"I handled it, no problem at all! One of my retainers is crossing the desert as we speak! And the reason I'm here is to pick up my side of the deal." Catalena quietly scoffed to himself. Of course he would be engrossed in the idea of having his soul binded to an object incapable of death.

Falman, remaining silent in the matter, had quietly cursed to himself as Barry began inconspicuously shaving his hands across the board, knocking the evidence of his impending loss in various directions. "Oh, so you want to know how I'm trapped in this body?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Sorry to break it to you, foreigner, but the scientists who did this to me are all dead. I have no idea how this happened!" He turned to Catalena, "Hey, sweetheart, you're an alchemist, right? Do you have any idea what they did to me?"

"…Sorry, Barry, but I don't have a photographic memory to things that don't interest me."

"Are you serious? That's not fair!"

"Hey, why don't you ask that Alphonse kid? He's also a soul glued to a metal body!"

"…Speaking of bodies, Barry. Do you actually _like _being in that suit?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at you…you're so wrinkled up, I can literally see your skull."

"Oh, ho, ho, so you're talking about appearances, sweetheart? Well this body's miles better looking than my real one, and besides, you're one to talk! You're prancing around arrogantly with vulgar appearances!"

"Barry, please. Don't even get me started on your outfit. If that body weren't made of metal, I'd probably be seeing your nips right now." Catalena shrugged, her face ushering a look of triumph.

Ling, who was seated quietly in the background, subsequently glanced down at his chest.

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Bitch, please. Don't be talkin' like you know me~

More of a filler chapter. I had to mix events around a bit to go with the flow of the anime... as well as add a few pointless exchanges to develop friendships and keep this story from being short and rushed. Thank you for bearing with me! Updates won't come daily anymore~ But thank you for all the reviews and support. I'm getting real excited! The more exciting chapters are coming up!

Please review~ They help me regain my health since I have recently gotten sick.**  
><strong>


	6. Unrequited Resolve

**KuramaMustangElric: **SHE'LL WAIT FOR HIM. LOL. But seriously speaking, 3 years apart is not so bad. And that bit was also something I borrowed from the anime. Thank you for reviewing again~

**VermillioN.O: **I love Kimblee too~ Let's see…he's probably my third or fourth favorite FMA character. It depends on if I want Ling and Greed to be mashed up or not. Right after those two would be Pride, 'cause I love freaky kids with distorted voices.

Yes, it was sweet. But it was also cute. Ehhh, I don't want to imagine him dying again, I won't lie to you; there was probably a tear or two coming up when I realized my favorite character was officially dying!

**AmiiStarr: **I can't taste or smell. It really sucks. It's just a fever, but it's tremendously annoying. And it kinda was, sooorrrry. In fact, after I read your review I read back and realized I forgot a vital detail! It's okay though; I could probably live without it. Schoolwork is officially done! I still have an essay to do, but I'm confident in my still growing writing skills. PROCASTINATOR—PROCASTINATOR—PROCASTINATOR—PROCAS—

**TimeWolf: **I like Barry too~ But his real body is hideous. Seriously. Anyway, after you read this shoot me for her coldness, but Catalena doesn't get emotionally attached to people easily_. __Especially _people who can't remember her own name.

**Cursed Bunny: **He actually calls every woman that, so I thought I'd let him live the dream~ Falman, yes, the gray-haired guy who's supposed to be very smart and a part of Mustang's unit. He was supposed to watch over Barry or something, I think.

Oh and I'm really just following the events of Brotherhood, but you didn't watch that so you're not familiar with it, right? I could try explaining what happens instead of skipping some parts since it is not possible for Catalena to be in every episode at once and save/troll the day if you want~ But I'll probably give a summary anyway, so.

**Random Girl Person D: **It looks like a sad face. eu e Thank you for reviewingggg, I lahv yooh fo dat.

**_A/N: _**_A chapter devoted solely to strengthening Ling and Cat's relationship, immediately following the events of episode 19, when everyone else was busy getting themselves killed by the homunculi~ It reveals a bit of how Cat has gotten involved with the military at a young age, but never officially joining it until now._

_By the way, I have a new BODY SHOT of Catalena that I drew using just the tablet and PS. Yes, so now you will know what she wears. Originally the idea was a coat thing like Edward's, but then I was scrolling through some Hetalia Player 2 pics and I saw FEM!Germany and FEM!Prussia looking epically cool in their Player 2 outfits. And Prussia just looks damn awesome with that cloak thing. Anyway, if you would like to look, it's my latest update on my profile. Oh, good, if you're reading this right now you are either back or you just continued reading the sentence._

_My only excuse for allowing her to wear such a thing is she embraces the fact that she doesn't live in a cold place anymore. And that she's rebellious because I'm sure as hell no parent would let their daughter wear that :P  
><em>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Ling would spend more screen time with his shirt off.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

**.**

_|Edward would be jealous of how fast it's growing…|_

**Chapter 6**

Unrequited Resolve

**.**

"Check it out, Catalena~" Ling was seated cross-legged on the opposing side of the table they were gathered at. She herself would be leaning over the arms of the hotel sofa, watching him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Oh, and that person with a mask on was seated formally beside him.

Using the whole 'hostage' thing as a way to skip work, Catalena chose to follow Ling and remain inconspicuous as the Xingese prince set off to find Alphonse Elric to question him about his 'immortal' body. He was a fugitive for breaking out of jail, after all. The success rate of her mission was heightened since Colonel Mustang had recently been deported to the hospital. He and two of his lieutenants had apparently gotten into a fight with some woman with long nails. **[1] **Alphonse, who was also at the scene, sadly reported that Barry had perished in the fight.

Poor guy.

NO, not Barry.

Catalena could care less about the guy who couldn't remember her name.

Alphonse, for returning home with only one arm and no jaw!

Ling and Catalena found and met with Alphonse and Winry Rockbell already, but the two had gone out for the day to try to find someone who could fix Al's broken body. Unfortunately for the two former Resembool dwellers, Ling was known to love hotel room service.

Meanwhile, the Xingese prince had handed her a large paper, which, when she glanced at it, read in bold print: **MENU. ALL PURCHASES WILL BE ADDED TO THE END OF HOTEL BILL. **Her brows furrowed at this. She was greedy with money, but that didn't mean she would feel comfortable using other people's. An eye for an eye, that's what Catalena believed in.

Holding the paper with both hands, she raised an eyebrow at the long lists of appetizers, entrees, and deserts. They did not seem desirable at the moment. "…What is this for?"

"It's the menu, silly. Winry, Al, and Ed's hotel have so many decadent dishes I have yet to try! I was just wondering if you would like to partake in the feast with me and my friend, here."

Peeking over the menu she saw Ling looking very casual as if he had been doing this all this life. What a voracious appetite this shifty-eyed prince had. Catalena shut her eyes; shoving the object back towards him, "Count me out. I may be greedy, but I don't like abusing my welcome here. I wouldn't like it if they did that to me."

Ling had already memorized a few columns of the menu, but did spare a glance to other female in the room, "What do you mean, Catalena?"

"Suppress your belly and think for a moment, Ling. How would you feel if people stayed over at your home in Xing, eating all of your food?"

"Heh, well that wouldn't happen! I make sure all my food is under lock and key." He pointed his index finger in the air comically.

Catalena facepalmed, and Ling's enigmatic vassal had looked away in embarrassment. "I can't believe you're not a total fatass…"

Unknown to her, Ling's attendant had tensed up at Catalena's insult, although Ling had anticipated this and placed a hand on his/her shoulder. Calmly replying back to Catalena, he said, "Well, don't you think the State Military is going to be paying them for all this food?"

"It doesn't work that way, Ling…" She tilted her head, frowning at his misconception.

"…B-b-but, look at this!" He thrust the list into her face, giving her complete view of it, "…This is an atrocity!_ A crime_ against humanity! Such good foods shouldn't be created if only few people are able to enjoy it!"

"…I thought you were a prince, shouldn't you have a lot of money on you?" She muttered at him, using her hand to brush the menu out of her face.

Despite her question, Ling only stated, "Fine! So when I order everything that sounds extreme _and_ delicious_—despite that it may be inedible—_ you aren't going to eat with me; that is what is expected, right?"

"…"

The masked person took the silent moment to point out to the Prince what she/he would have liked to try.

"…Okay. I'll give in to your gluttonous nature as long as you take the blame. Shorty doesn't already hate me enough…" Her hand spread outward for the list. Glancing at her bare hand, she remembered that the blonde alchemist had _still _never returned her gloves as of yet.

"I'm happy you see it my way, Catalena~" Ling cheerfully added, his disposition changing completely as he placed the menu into her hands.

**. . .**

"Look at all this food! It's like a birthday party! I honestly can't stress enough the graciousness of this country!" Ling beamed, holding the menu to his chest as he gazed at the arrival of the many platters on a wheeling table.

The hotel employee pushed the cart in and exited before Ling could erupt into the smacking, chomping, swallowing sound of pure ecstasy.

"Birthday party…" Catalena muttered, watching Ling dance around the cart and his vassal seat his/herself quietly.

Throwing the menu into some random direction, Ling seated himself in front of the table, grabbing stacks of different dishes to place on it. This was the moment when Catalena noticed how strong he really was. Perhaps his chest wasn't just for show after all…

Still standing idly near the two and their feast, they began to hastily wolf everything down as if it were their last meals. The mysterious and unnamed guardian of Ling had at least some proper manners as she took her fill, though. It was like déjà vu, watching him.

"…"

"Ohffmm—so delicious!" He had cried out after swallowing countless bites of various foods. "Catalena, you aren't going to join?"

"…How does this remind you of a birthday party?"

The two had paused their meal to look at her.

"Huh? There is practically free food piled in front of us, and you're going to ask me a question like that?"

"My birthday is coming up…the thought of it just triggered some pointless emotions." She finally chose to take notice of all the food, placing herself on the opposing side of the Xingese countrymen as before. Her hand hovered over the most colorful looking food, and she forked it with the utensils provided on the tray, displaying disinterest but retaining a glint in her eyes.

"Oh yeah~ A birthday? When? I'll be happy to abuse Edward's hotel privileges for the sake of you turning 19, Catalena." Ling stopped eating, folding his hands in each sleeve and giving her his full attention.

The only sound was the silent third of their trio eating as Catalena thought things through. "When's the last time I had an official party…" she stared up at the ceiling lights, reminiscing. Then her face jerked back towards him again and she raised her index finger, "Oh, yeah! It was December 29th, 1912; my 16th birthday."

Ling watched her with an understanding smile on his face as she spoke to her heart's content.

"It was with my family, and I'm going to open up to you and say I don't spend much of my time with them nowadays." She stared at the food in front of her with a small smile.

"Why not? I've always had at least someone around me."

"Ling…would you believe me if I told you I was a troublemaker in my child years?" She looked hesitant to reveal that. Ling was inaudibly shocked beyond words.

"Um…probably not." Was he telling the truth? She couldn't tell, honestly.

"In my childhood, it was a normal household in Briggs. Thick clothing, terrible food, at least one person was certain to be related to the military. That was my dad."

Ling gulped. He briefly remembered the haze of the moment when she mentioned Briggs had terrible food. Perhaps that was why she didn't care much for it.

"I've always dabbled a bit in alchemy since I was a kid, and I read books about it that he would bring from some trips from Central. I'll tell you, I was addicted with that place. It seemed more befitting for me here, than Briggs. Besides, all I had to work with alchemy there was ice. _Ice_. Ice everywhere. Can you imagine how annoying that was? We had cold soup every night."

"Cold? Awful!"

"Eventually, I began causing trouble to the neighborhood…I was honestly envious. You don't see many neighbors having fun there because of the terrain, so solitude was a problem. The only outcome of the state of mind who wishes to live in excitement is to become a delinquent…which I did."

"You? A delinquent? How laughable!" Now she _really _wasn't sure if he was lying or not.

"I think it was when I was 8 that my mother and father and I moved to Central. Surprisingly, they admitted me to the State military school, there. Harsh, right? Pretty girl like me with a bunch of bald guys?" **[2]**

"You should come and see Xing. Long hair everywhere!" He twirled his hands around his head to emphasize this.

"Were the teachers there singularly unique?" She raised an eyebrow, not really expecting a sensible answer.

"Everyone should know about the traditional Xingese martial arts, but I'm satisfied with the assumption that each clan has their own little quirks," he explained, beginning to eat again. Even his vassal had nodded in unison.

"Hm. Thank you for sharing that with me, Ling. By the way, I've never actually seen you lift a finger unless there's a fork in it. Are you one of those princess-ey princes or the "I'm going to change the world" _princes_?" She inquired, placing some type of anonymous food in her mouth. Hell, she didn't care. She probably didn't have a sense of taste anyway.

"Well, let's see…Sure, I want to change some things I don't agree with in the world…" Ling tilted his head upwards with his still shut eyes.

She raised an eyebrow.

"…But being treated like a princess sure feels great!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

"FFFFFUUUUUU—! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BODY?"

"I'm sorry, brother!"

"Just—what—guh—AGGGHH! HOW DID YOU GET SO BEAT UP?" Ed began attacking his damaged brother with questions, all the while threatening to pull his hair out as he examined him from all directions.

The sounds of constant eating broke Edward's already pissed-off nerves.

"AND YYYOU." The blonde State Alchemist jabbed his finger in the direction of two Xingese countrymen filling their selves to yet another meal, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

"Eating a delicious dinner…?" Ling mumbled, the leg of a turkey protruding from his teeth.

The two were promptly kicked out, and Catalena, watching from beside the doors they were thrown from, chuckled with her arms crossed arrogantly over her chest, "Whoa there. For a second, I thought you were talking to me, shorty, hehe." She grinned, seeing little hairs standing on his head, tense.

He slowly faced her, the very definition of murder and evil plastered on his face, "…_Call me shorty one more time, and you won't get away as easily." _Now normally Catalena wouldn't be intimidated by the short blonde's words, but _just for that moment_ she didn't feel like fighting him. Especially since her gloves were his hostages.

Edward, one.

Catalena, zero.

**. . .**

"So what's your plan, Shorty? You and your _big_ little brother looked pretty enthusiastic back at the hotel."

He twitched at the S word but replied anyway, "I'm going to look in a bit into the homunculi. You're welcome to come along since, you know, you're also a State Alchemist and you just _love _to slack off."

Catalena held her hips, frowning at him, "Now how do you know how I spend my free time? Do you honestly have a crush on me, Shorty?" She flashed him a teasing grin, which was even worse as she towered over him.

"NOOOOO! Never in my life would I EVER have a crush on you!" Edward spat, immediately blowing up. "Look, if you don't want to come, you don't have to, I honestly don't even know what you're doing here in the first place."

Catalena had bent down to become in even height level with Edward, patting his head, "My previous orders have just been completed as soon as you arrived. As for my own personal agenda… " She smiled at him with sparkly gray eyes that had him hypnotized in fear; He never would have imagined such an innocent looking face that was hers.

There was a sinking feeling in his coat pocket that made Edward finally notice her other free hand drifting inside. Before he could jump backward to get away, she successfully pick pocketed him. The brown gloves he had stolen from her more than a week ago were now re-pilfered and dangling in front of his eyes, "I've got what I needed, Shorty. You can run along, now." Catalena stood up straight, her eyes squinting in triumph down at him.

Edward was blushing from the humility, "WHAT THE HELL—You don't just stick your hand down my pockets like that, you filthy pervert! I THINK THIS IS CONSIDERED SEXUAL HARASSMENT SINCE WE'RE BOTH STATE ALCHEMISTS!"

"All right, so I'll agree with you that _perhaps_ it is sexual harassment, and you know what—I'll even be there when you complain to Mustang's face that a female officer no more than three years older was sexually harassing you." She smirked.

"Ah…what?" Edward murmured with the tone of a frightened little mouse, even appearing slightly as so once the color from his face drained.

"I want to see the expression on his face once Mustang hears the thought of the hot-headed brat 'Edward Elric' who is known for standing up to himself—whine about being sexually harassed! Which is, merely, theoretically speaking, of course."

"I think you're about to top my list of 'People who get on my nerves, 'Catalena," he had muttered to himself as he drew away from her.

Edward, zero.

Catalena, one.

**. . .**

_Colonel Mustang_

_Ling Yao_

_Catalena_

_Envy (Stop calling me pipsqueak when I'm trying to kill you!)_

_Scar _

_Truth_

_Breda _

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>[1] – <strong>Lust, who is now dead. She was killed by Roy Mustang, with love~ Okay. Not really love. Roy suffered mortal wounds from this, so he was sent to the infirmary thing.

**[2] – **The youngest age liable for enlisting in military school is age 7. Catalena? A delinquent? NO WAY!

**A/N: **Another chapter made to strengthen the bonds between Ling and Cat as well as fill in important events. Just in case anyone was wondering, Catalena was with Ling and Lan Fan at Winry, Al, and Ed's hotel room during the time Lust was being encountered. Our Fullmetal Alchemist, has just recently returned from the ruins of Xerxes at the end of this.

I finally cleared up that whole business with the FMA timeline! Catalena's story now fits properly in between. So now I must make amends; if anyone recalls me stating that Catalena _served under a unit, _please forget that! '-.-

It will now be that she was _instructed _by that person, almost like Roy Mustang under Berthold Hawkeye. A State Alchemist in training so that when they get older, they may take the exam. I'm going to change those chapters right now, so.

You just get comfortable and wait for the next update.

Please review! The second chapter leads to some homunculi bashing. SortOFKinda. But the eighth will. Considering you all will even read that far, of course. But I promise Roy will be in the next chappie. Yes. Everything is better with fire.

Who knows.

Only I knows.

:)


	7. Justified

**DarknessArises98: **Oh, yes, now I remember you. :P Anyhow, the list was sort of just something I scrambled. BUT HE LIKES WINRYYY~ D: Anyway, thank you for finally reviewing!

**WhiteCrow10: **Thank you, thank you, thank, thank, thank you~ I like Greedling more than the first Greed because it seems to me that the first Greed kinda sucks combat-wise. I mean, have you guys seen episodes 13 and 14? Sure, he's probably funnier, but he got his ass handed to him. :|

**KuramaMustangElric: **Love Ed. Roy didn't get so much spotlight here, but I tried to have the awesome Flame Alchemist show off his superiority. :3 Thank you for reviewing~

**TimeWolf: **It was only one time...but I still loved it. B) Well, he always shows off his chest, so does that count? eu e

**VermillioN.O: **Thank you! /throws confetti and hearts and pandas

I do try to follow the anime and I don't see the point in manipulating it like some people might do. But I don't usually read other fanfics unless they are recommended to me, though.

So it's said that the person you pick on the most is the one you're most likely to have a crush on, right?

That doesn't apply here.

**Random girl person: **Your reviews are short and sweet and lovely~ Yes, I had always wondered what the D was meant to personify. Thank you for reviewing~

**WhiteOokamiKiss: **No problem at all! Thank you, I'm sure she would blush and deny anything positive about her if she had read that. Thank you for reviewing~

**MiniSam: **Thank you! I'm sure we all love Greed/Ling, Greed, Ling, Lingreed, Grin, BLARRRGGGGHHH! ...Maybe... :D

**Cursed Bunny: **HOMMUNNNCCCUUULLLIIIIII~ Dammit, how come Pride gets to be the only one to survive? Oh, sheeit, was that a spoiler? Oh well, I'm pretty sure I already disclosed this. Thank you for reviewing~ And she doesn't really wear a cloak like that. I just wanted to draw something similar to Hetalia. It's pretty much the same thing, but it has sleeves and pockets. Just use your Ima-gin-at-ion~

**A/N: **_Thank you for all reviews! This chapter is a lot longer, and the humor dies out because things get serious. Not as great as the last chapter, which seemed to have more feedback~ GAH. THIS STORY IS ABOUT GREED X OC AND YET HE HAS NOT EVEN ARRIVED YET. :U Well, it's about Ling too, but without Greed,this seems to be half a story.  
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_If anyone wondered why I updated this chapter early, it's because you guys are so kind to me...  
><em>

_AND OH MY GOD INCOMING FLUFF IN THE NEXT NEXT CHAPTER~~~~ eu e  
><em>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Roy Mustang would get his own hospital room with a hot nurse.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

**.**

_| It's the last thing on my mind… |_

**Chapter 7**

Justified

**.**

_**[At the 5th Laboratory: Obtained from B9, B8, B6, and B3...]**_

There were voices from the other side of the door, easily distinguished as two males and one stout female. The brave female voice was obviously Lieutenant Hawkeye, and the other two were more than likely Havoc and Mustang. Catalena held the tray with obvious chagrin, her squiggly frown looking embarrassed.

So her orders were to deliver the Colonel a meal on account of that guy with the sparkly muscles—by the way he was described as intimidating from her point of view—with a smile on her face.

Now there were two things Catalena feared as she stared at the food, watching it get cold at every second.

1. Roy would tease her about actually caring about him, and she would deny it, but her argument wouldn't be very valid.

2. Havoc would immediately assume that the meal was for him, and then he would pronounce his undying love for her.

If there were a 'none of the above' option, she would have clicked that.

Before the girl could walk away or walk in, the door opened, causing a squeak erupting from her throat without permission. Her gray eyes stared up disoriented at the brown eyes looking back at her.

"Hawkeye…" she had murmured. Before any other emotions could become relevant on her face, she shoved the meal towards Hawkeye's chest, "That pink freaky guy with the sparkles—he asked me to bring this to Mustang—" A red blush occupied her pale cheeks, "—I had nothing to do with it!"

Riza's diligent eyes blinked at least twice before she comforted the flustered female before her by taking the meal tray, "I'll give it to the Colonel right now. Ah…" Riza had a revelation, before she leaned over to whisper to Catalena, "You didn't bring Lieutenant Havoc anything? He's had a rough week, and it'd be very terrible of you to—"

"Not interested." She immediately shot down.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye? Who is that at the door?"

The blonde female obediently stood sideways from the door, causing Catalena to be visible in all her hubris. "It's just Miss Artenie. She's graciously arrived with some complimentary food." Riza set the tray beside Roy's hospital bed.

The Flame Alchemist raised an eyebrow at the dish, skeptical, "Really? I find that rather hard to even consider the idea of Miss Artenie caring for my well-being."

"What are you talking about, Colonel? Cat has obviously brought that food for me!" Havoc seemed to wail, gesturing a hand to his taut chest.

Catalena covered the lower half of her face with her gloved hands; narrowing her eyes, "You can fight each other for it. Nothing funnier than two handicapped men fighting over spoiled food," she voiced absent-minded, but then her eyes traced to the black-haired man, "Don't flatter yourself. I only came here because of this weird shit going on. Have you heard the story about this maniacal Ishvalan killing State Alchemists? And to add to that, SHORTY is pretty much showboating all across Central!"

Roy took all the information as unexpected, staring at Catalena with surprised eyes.

"Is he daft in the head? Does he WANT to get himself killed? _What the hell are you still doing at the hospital anyway."_ She added the last fragment hastily.

"Scar's back in Central? And Fullmetal is purposely making his presence known here? _I have a hot nurse._" Roy repeated, sitting up in his hospital bed.

Catalena retained a stoic appearance as she looked back at him.

"THAT IDIOT! Does he have any idea what that bastard did to him back at East City?" Roy facepalmed, gritting his teeth together at the 15 year old's ignorance.

"What'd he do?" The youngest of them all murmured without much interest.

"Scar was responsible for breaking Edward's automail arm, and even going so far as almost obliterating Alphonse." The Colonel threw the hospital covers off of him, slowly forcing his legs across the side of the bed. He rubbed his lower abdomen as he hunched over, "Lieutenant, get me my uniform."

"But sir. I discretely remember that you were also useless against the Ishvalan at the time—how will you fight him in your current condition?"

"IT WAS RAINING THAT DAY." He shot back at her, but not really violently. He quickly regained composure, "Besides, we have to stop Fullmetal before he gets himself killed." The Flame Alchemist got to his feet, and began walking towards the exit.

"You look like a wreck. Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Catalena commented as the taller figure slipped past her own. "Oh, and the food I got you is going to get cold…"

Roy had his eyes shut in irritation, and his shadow Riza followed in suit, "Like I said, it was raining that day. And I'm sure Havoc would appreciate the gesture." Roy craned his neck over, looking back at the blonde man who was laid in bed, "You all right, Havoc? Don't strain yourself."

Havoc's blue eyes looked stern and serious once the Colonel mentioned him. He gave a weak smile and gestured towards his legs, "Don't worry Sir. I'm not going anywhere as you can plainly see." **[1]**

Roy spared one more glance at his Second Lieutenant before the door closed behind them.

Once the three military officers were alone and quiet, Catalena chose to speak her mind. " So, uh, since I just fed you this tasty morsel of information, I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off, yeah? Yes." She pointed her thumb behind her, slowly beginning to back up.

Roy turned around, pointing his own finger at her, as if it were some supreme force that would stop her from moving. Well, it was successful, "Just a moment. I think we could use your help. You got your alchemy gloves back from Fullmetal, right?"

"No."

"Are you lying to me, Major?" He raised an eyebrow, challenging her yet again.

Catalena folded her hands behind her back, "…Nooooo."

Roy and Riza looked forwards again, "You're lying to me, Major, and so terribly too. I can see your gloves clear as day. Now come with me." Stating his order, the two dutifully began walking.

She rubbed the back of her head, sighing.

"I can never tell a lie truthfully, can I?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

_**[At the 5th Laboratory: Obtained from B9, B8, B6, and B3. Cell numbers 45, 23, 57, 63, and 35...]  
><strong>_

There were numerous amounts of buildings they had passed, each appearing differently and unique than the other. Strapped in the back seat of the car, Catalena leaned her body against the window, contemplating this.

Gray optics gazed so intently at how they contrasted each other in size, shape—whatever factor. The point was that they were all different, even in their backgrounds. And yet, despite whatever story they may have originated from, there were still people who crowded around its base. Catalena scoffed silently to herself as the car came to a stop.

Can you compare this theory to the thoughts of humans?

Colonel Mustang and Riza had made their way out of the car. Roy, who was seated beside Catalena, added as he was about to close the door, "Stay put, Major."

"I'm not going anywhere," she mused, not even bothering to glance at him.

Unknown to her, Mustang had smirked eerily upon closing the door.

Glancing over her shoulder, she could make out the big metal being known as Alphonse and then the tiny yellow being known as Shorty. They were currently speaking to Roy and Riza about whatever nonsense Shorty could make up.

Meanwhile Catalena diverted her attention to the buildings again. Her previous thoughts were reestablishing themselves in the conscience of her mind. Instead of buildings rather, she thought of human beings.

**...**

Could she imagine being exactly like he was?

There were people here who she could possibly classify as friends but,

What kind of person did they see when they saw her?

"_You can't run headfirst into battle without being fully prepared to __**die. **__That's what it means to be a soldier. That's what it means to be __**alive!"**_

When they look upon this person,

What did they see?

Was she a monster, like him or,

"_You want to be a State Alchemist, right? Forget it—you're too naïve. If you desire to have power like me…"_

Was she also seen as a friend, despite her background with that insane, immoral man?

"…_Then you'd better be ready to stain those innocent hands of yours with the blood of those you've killed."_

She had always believed in the latter, to this very day._  
><em>

_**. . .**  
><em>

Her eyelids grew heavy, and she stared at her clear reflection with a smile looking back at her. "But I've never killed so pleasurably like you did, Kimblee.  
>I guess that's one quality of yours that didn't rub off on me."<p>

Reminiscing to the tales her old instructor would express to her in pure ecstasy, he would always mention this object of high relevance. Of course now, she knew what he was talking about. And now she knew how psychotic he truly was. Now she realized just how insane he was, and conversely, how insane _she _was.

The only logical reasoning Catalena could use to excuse her ignorance of the monstrosity sewn into her chest was that she was afraid to become even _more _like him. Once she felt the power that would probably surge through her body, could she control her own sadism unlike he had?

Staring at her stoic reflection from her side of the car window, there appeared glowing hues of blue shining back at her. Catalena's face peeled away from the screen, blinking before realizing it was a reflection from the other side.

Catalena's neck craned over, her mouth slightly dropping once she was also witness to what the others had seen.

It was a tan man with red eyes and silver hair. He looked immensely rugged, and the blue current was because of his doing. Catalena blinked, realizing who that man was.

It was the Ishvalan murderer from the newspapers, yes, but also a man that had come up in Kimblee's wild Ishval Civil War tales frequently. **[2] **Catalena stood up in her seat, about to throw herself out of the car to assist her 'friends.'

But then Roy and Riza sprinted to the car, each seating their selves quietly in their respective spots. Roy held his chin, watching Shorty and Alphonse brawl against the Ishvalan rather enviously. Riza started the ignition, and slowly the car began to move.

Catalena glanced between them, unnerved by their silence, "So…you're not going to be telling me anything, I take it?"

Roy slowly removed his hand from his face, looking at the girl with a dumb look. He blinked his dark eyes and then said, "What exactly are you asking me, Major?"

Catalena's brows wrinkled, "Um, just what the hell is going on, Colonel! Where are we going? Why is Shorty fighting Scar?"

He crossed his arms in response, looking back at the window, "Fullmetal presumably has this 'fool proof' plan to lure out the homunculi in the area and then interrogate them."

"H-Homunculi?" In one of the bookshelves of the library of her clever mind was an index card used as a coaster that read:

_HOMUNCULUS: ARTIFICIALLY CREATED HUMAN. _**Will be on test later.**

"Idiotic, I know. He claims that he is one of their 'sacrifices'. Whatever that means, and that they won't let Scar harm him."

"So, Shorty's our shark bait?" She smirked at the idea.

"Basically."

"Sounds fool proof to me," she grinned, looking forward again and folding one leg over the other. But after a few ticking seconds she jerked forward, arms stretched and clawing in the same spastic motion. "W-wait! How is he going to catch these homunculi?" She inquired, a little jittery, "I thought they were immortal or something…"

"Oh, Fullmetal also mentioned that his fugitive friend would be handling that." Roy stated simply.

Catalena's gray periodicals looked scrutinizing at her superior, "Fugitive…friend?"

"He mentioned he was Xingese or something…?" Roy added, raising an eyebrow at Catalena's sudden change in disposition.

She bit her tongue, shocked and slightly indecisive. It took her ten seconds to thought process everything. It took her seven seconds to make a decision. It took her five seconds to blush profusely, and it took her three seconds to grab Hawkeye's shoulder and screech, "STOP THE CAR!"

Immediately, the car skidded to a stop, causing the three of their faces to collide into whatever object was in front of them. Roy, who was face planted to the seat in front of him, irritably questioned in a muffled tone, "…Major, could you please do me the favor of explaining why the hell you just stopped the car."

Catalena unbuckled her seat, kicking open the door and then thrusting her legs out. Once her whole body slipped into the open day, she turned back to Roy, who was now rubbing a red bruise on the bridge of his nose as he stared at her. "Where's this Xingese friend of Edward's?"

Roy scowled at her, remaining silent most likely because he didn't know. Luckily, Riza came to the rescue, replying in her usual serious tone, "Head to the 3rd Laboratory, and stay on the rooftops. I'm sure you'll find your friend somewhere along there."

Closing the door and then giving Riza and Roy a sincere look as they drove away, she thanked them silently. The girl carried her legs across the streets of Central, just trying to get to the 3rd Laboratory as fast as she could. There was only one thought dominating the maze of nerves that was her mind.

_Ling, you dumbass!  
><em>

**.**

**.**

**.**

What was that feeling?

The Qi that this _homunculus _was radiating skewered right _through_ the charts.

Ling wasn't sure exactly how to explain it, but it seemed that this large homunculus embodied a bunch of souls. Of course, he couldn't exactly put his finger on an estimated amount. If Ling had to guess it was probably _a lot._

The Xingese Prince and Lan Fan sensed another presence along with the physically larger homunculus. He was lesser in size, but his Qi was even more massive. "That's an odd feeling. You sense that too, right, Lan Fan?" Ling muttered to his female guardian.

"Yes. It's getting closer."

From his back Ling had yanked out from its white tape his trusty Dao sword. If Catalena were here, she would probably think it was clichéd and say something smart-ass about it. Now that the young woman had crossed his mind, he didn't seem to be able to get her out of it. Ling balanced the blunt of the blade behind his shoulders, lying in wait for the incoming homunculus. "Get ready, Lan Fan." Putting his comical side behind, Ling became 95% serious business.

Minutes passed and not a one had arrived, but the two couldn't question their whereabouts when a sudden, vile voice began shouting,

"I smell him! Time to eat!" A creature at least three times the weight of a normal human being had suddenly shot through the rooftops. He looked excited—excited to—as he would put it, eat.

Lan Fan wouldn't give him a chance to do so, as she intervened in his flight path, and the only thing Gluttony would be eating tonight was a face full of foot. The pink being's face sunk in at the impact, and promptly fell backward on a rooftop, to his convenience.

"W-whaat?" It had whined, slowly getting up and blinking. Slowly his vision began re-aligning itself, and two figures were processed. There was a hooded masked figure dressed in black, and a tall male with a sword over his shoulder, smiling.

"That's a pretty unusual body you have!" He had commented, examining Gluttony, "Just how many souls are inside of you?"

The person that had kicked him in the face looked intimidating as it warned in a feminine voice, "Don't bother running. I can sense your presence. And I can follow it."

Gluttony hadn't looked in the least bit fearful, and he only opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, just imagining swallowing the two Xingese opponents, "Follow? Then I guess I'll just have to eat you up, then~!" His large tongue had a red tattoo imprinted on it, and it was the moment Lan Fan and Ling confirmed he was very well a homunculus.

But before Gluttony and the two could fight, the other presence that was sensed made itself known, speaking in a formal tone that sort of mocked them, "So you can sense his presence, eh?"

Lan Fan and Ling's attention was averted to the old looking man dressed in State Military regalia arming himself with two swords. He was casually traipsing through the alleyways below their position towards them. He had an eye patch over one eye, while the other was opened and looking unimpressed.

"That could prove a hindrance; why don't we take care of it?"

There was a bad feeling submerging itself from Ling's gut, and his entire mind could only scream Lan Fan's name, "W-Wait. Lan Fan—get away from there—!"

With inhuman speed the dark-haired man easily carried himself along the walls of the building Lan Fan was stationed at, and at its peak his twin swords swung to kill.

Poor Lan Fan didn't stand a chance; she had only blinked once before he attacked her. In the instant her protective mask shattered, and a wave of pain washed through her arm. She had been able to utter an abrupt scream before being forced upwards into the air, then falling from the impact.

"LAN FAN!"

Her body had flown through the air in a spray of red liquid, and as she tumbled across the tan cement of a rooftop, painted it red too. She rolled over a few times, looking lifeless as her body skidded to a bloody stop. Ling's eyes were peeled open, unable to react. It had all happened too fast, was this mysterious man out of their league?

Meanwhile Bradley's sword split in two, and he stared at the damaged one curiously, "How clever of you, girl. So you swung at me with your kunai at the last second." He discarded the broken blade, "Unfortunately for you, your time is up." Gluttony now stood beside the Führer, looking anxious in the highest possible degree.

"Can I eat her now?"

"Be my guest."

Ling readied himself to slice the head of the homunculi clean off.

"YIPPPEEEEEEE!" The homunculus cried in glee, immediately launching himself at the unconscious girl with only the thought of eating her occupying his mind.

It was not Gluttony's day, as he was met with another fist in his face.

The only difference was, this fist, had an unusually _icy _feeling to it as it collided.

The whites of his eyes stared at the other being's gray with confusion, disorientation, all of the above.

Tiny icicles that were imprinted into the pores of his face slowly began to crack, melt, and finally...

...combust in a cloud of frost, snow, and almost liquid nitrogen worthy gas.

"ECCCCKKKKKK!" A cry so loud it could have been heard by anyone in Central City sounded. Looking at the owner of the shrill voice, his face began peeling apart from the shattering ice.

"HELL YES, A FIST IN YOUR FACE, you fat bastard!" Gluttony's disarrayed cries echoed, as he would be propelling through the air in a haze of white gas. It sounded pitiful really, and Catalena liked it.

"Catalena...?" Ling, who was in midair motion from the preparation of saving Lan Fan, inquired with a dumb-founded look.

And then King Bradley, who had watched the scene with an unreadable expression, watched the girl standing over Lan Fan's unconscious body.

Catalena grinned, fist pumping the frost gauntlet that struck Gluttony with sheer confidence, "You know, despite the fact that I totally screwed up your already hideous face..." She glanced between Ling, Bradley, and Gluttony, who was slowly regenerating his imploded head,

"This hero thing really isn't my thing. I always arrive at the worst moment."

**.**

**.**

**.**

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><p><strong>[1] - <strong>Havoc lost the use of his legs because when he and Roy were fighting Lust, her attacks detached his nerves.**  
><strong>

**[2] - **In one of Kimblee's or Scar's flashbacks of the Ishvalan Civil War, when Kimblee killed Scar's familiy, Scar was supposed to be the only one to survive. And we may also thank the awesome Kimblee for giving Scar his trademark...scar.**  
><strong>

**A/N: ** We can all predict one of my favorite episodes of Brotherhood next chapter! But just WHAT will happen? And does Catalena really have feelings for Ling? WHO KNOWS. ONLY I KNOWS.

But QUESTION, STILL!

Is Catalena a tsundere now? D:

Please review! And kudos to anyone who already knew Kimblee was Catalena's alchemy instructor. I dunno, I did sort of give huge hints. :|

And I apologize for only discretely adding that morsel of info~


	8. Hail to the Führer

**anonymous: **It's not anonymous if you tell me who you are, dumbass.

**Blackrose: **No problem! I can't wait for Greed to show up either~ Thank you for reviewing!

**VermillioN.O: **:[ I don't think he's really an idiot. He acts like one, though, and he is ignorant. Anyhow, I really mean for Catalena and Ling to just sustain a close friendship. But sometimes she overthinks it. Cool, I would like to read/review it! :D

**SmileYouLiveLonger: **Ling has always been loved~ Who wouldn't love the comical, buff Asian guy in the background? Thank you for reviewing and I don't think others can wait for Greed either. eu e

**Random girl person: **Not as epic as I would have liked to type it out, but I'm not nearly experienced enough to succeed at that. ;) Thank you for reviewing again!

**KuramaMustangElric: **Thank you for the review~ I love Olivier and how she can beat her lil' bro up so easily.

**WhiteCrow10: **She was originally supposed to be a tsundere, but I'm not going to allow her to beat the snot out of Ling (Considering they even get paired in the end /le gasp) Thank you for reviewing!

**Cursed Bunny: **I honestly wanted to get that chapter out of the way is all. HAVOC CAN'T WALK ANYMORE, WHAT. Cheers for Kimblee and his sense of style! eu eThis chapter isn't all good either since I fail at description, but I tried extra-extra-extra hard for the next chapter~~~ Thank you for reviewing, like always!

**Timewolf: **I split the events of the episode this was based off in two chapters. This one and the next~ I want you people to SUFFERRRRR. :U

Thank you for reviewing!

**A/N: **_Ohhhh noooo, seriousness in this chapter! Yes, there can't always be humor. :( I think I totally failed at this chapter, but it did take me a long time to think and type it out. Thank you for all your feedback~ the next chapter will be pretty fluffy. eu e VERRRRY FLUFFY. Slightly fluffy. I JUST WANT TO WARN YOU GUYS THAT I'VE NEVER WRITTEN FLUFF BEFORE or emotional trauma SO THERE I SAID IT. D:_**  
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**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Ling would have kicked both Bradley's AND Gluttony's ass.**_  
><em>**

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><p><strong><em>Avaricious<em>**

**.**

_|To come out on top, of course! |_

**Chapter 8**

Hail to the Führer

**.**

"Well, well, well, _this _is certainly a surprise." Catalena mused, narrowing her eyes at the homunculus and Führer King Bradley as they opposed the dynamic duo of her and Ling.

Ling had taken the silence to position himself beside Catalena, also using the chance to hoist Lan Fan's body over his shoulders, "I would ask what you're doing here, " he half-heartedly joked, "But I'm too grateful for your arrival that I'd rather not question it." Ling was now holding the girl in one hand, while the other bore his Dao sword.

Catalena blushed, looking away from Ling while she muttered, "Uh, well, I don't really know what I'm doing here either."

Ling was focused on the side of her face, since she was so evasive of him. He wondered why, since she was normally always confident, "But really, thanks a lot. I'm not sure how I'd manage if you didn't come along…"

Catalena smirked, her arms lying limp by her side as she teased him, "Don't talk like that. The serious personality doesn't suit you."

Ling mustered a small cheery chuckle before his worried face appeared, "Unfortunately this isn't the time for games."

"Aw, but life is a game, Ling. All you have to do is win it!" She joked, not entirely at ease with herself.

The conversation itself was strained, because she wasn't sure herself if she and Ling could even handle these two inhuman beings. And despite that, her thoughts were too scrambled with each other at the idea of Führer King Bradley siding with the homunculus.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, clapping her hands together to create her frost gauntlets again, "Is your girlfriend alright?"

"S-She's not my girlfriend!"

"Shut it! I see how she always looks at you!" Catalena rolled her eyes, refusing to look at his expression. The truth of her words was that she was actually testing him, but of course she refused to admit it to herself, "...Don't lie to me and say there isn't anything going on between you guys..."

"There isn't anything going on." He said it so serious too.

She looked at him, skeptical. "...Really?" **[1]**

Ling wouldn't have been able to respond, as the blade of a long sword came slicing through the air at them (Lucky him). Ling and Catalena had to split apart to dodge the Führer's attack, and that was exactly what he had intended. Once the two good guys regained their footing, King Bradley began swinging his weapon at Ling and Gluttony threw himself at Catalena like a Frisbee.

As the large gluttonous being was evaded by her merely jumping to the side, she couldn't help but worry about Ling's well being. After all, she never even witnessed his fighting finesse. But her gray eyes would widen indefinitely, because Ling was swiftly dodging all of Bradley's professional strokes, keeping in line with his blind spot.

Catalena was slowly beginning to realize the full potential of her Xingese friend.

"Good, you are staying completely still! Now, Wrath told me not to swallow you, but he didn't say I couldn't tear you limb from limb and eat those!" The childish voice of Gluttony echoed crookedly from behind her.

Catalena's neck stretched over, instantaneously discerning his stubby little legs parading towards her at an unusual speed despite his bulbous size. Clenching her hardened fists, she threw her body weight behind her, allowing her to recklessly dodge his stomping little feet. Gluttony turned around in a hurry, opening his mouth wide enough for Catalena to make out a red tattoo printed on his tongue. She raised one of her fists, directing all of her able power into her knuckles as it was forced at Gluttony's wide-open mouth.

**Now, question, students!**

**What should you NOT do when fighting the homunculus Gluttony?**

**_Stick your fist in his mouth!_**

**Good job, students! Candy for everyone!**

_**YAY~!**_

But to Catalena, his mouth seemed the most legit weak spot of his. If she could get rid of that, she could fearlessly pummel and disintegrate his stubby little body.

Gluttony anticipated this, and bared his teeth in order to chomp down. Her frost-covered hands slipped away from Gluttony's jaw and impacted his cheek. A small, gaseous explosion ensued, and from the shock of her attack Gluttony's frost-covered face twisted in the opposite direction. The female swung her other hand at him while her recent gauntlet re-infused itself from the all-out blow. **[2]** The second attack, once it made contact with his large frozen jaw, caused it to shatter and fall to the ground. The both of them were levitating in the air momentarily from the action.

The homunculus tried to howl, and some noise of the sort did sound. However the lack of a tongue rejected this, and he only stumbled backwards in a daze.

Catalena frowned at him, retaining her footing as his face began regenerating itself. So the effects of her two attacks was half of his face falling off into a heap of frozen flesh. But still, it healed possibly due to that stone inside of him. She plugged one of her fingers in her ears, squinting her eyes in satisfaction, "Ah~ that popping and then sound of shattering…doesn't that sound good to you?"

The homunculus stood up straight again, unmoving as a red light began surging through his body.

As she watched him she added mockingly, "Oh right, I guess you can't hear anything because your ears fell off. What a shame. It's a nice sound—really it is." Gray eyes slanted in a crooked way, her formally straight lips curved into a smile of malice.

Gluttony held his re-forming face until his eyes reconstructed. Catalena observed the miracle with stoic interest. Those white pupils looked at her rather pitifully, "W-Wrath told me you wouldn't fight back! Why are you hurting me, Catalena?"

Glancing around her, the woman realized that Ling and Bradley were nowhere in sight. Her attention reinstated itself at the monstrosity before her. "…Alright, how do you know my name? And who the hell is Wrath?" She spat.

He smiled, his cheeks puffing up, "Wrath told us your name after you qualified as an alchemist! And Wrath is a homunculus, of course!"

One of her thin eyebrows rose, skeptical. But slowly the reality became clear to her. The sudden rush of delight from injuring him seemed to disappear completely. The subject they discussed intrigued her even more, gathering all of her attention, "Wrath… is Wrath… " Her gray optics eventually widened to their peaks, "…What."

"Uh-huh~"

"Are you trying to tell me...that Führer King Bradley is actually a homunculus?" She exclaimed, her frost gauntlets receding as she held her head with the futility of denial, "…You can't be serious, right?"

Gluttony's head tilted almost unorthodox. He grinned at her, "Yep! Wrath told me to keep you alive because you can be a sacrifice! But…he never told me you would fight back…"

She almost threatened to pull her hair out, as a normal human would. Catalena was a normal human, and one of her most deadliest sins was the sin of greed. In all reality, this State Military business wasn't her problem. In all reality, all she cared about was herself. In all reality, despite that it shocks her, the Führer being a homunculus shouldn't affect her.

She was just ignorant to know how wrong she was.

Repeating these words in her head, Catalena re-registered Gluttony in her vision, looking unamused, "Yeah, whatever. I honestly don't care; I think I've heard enough freak shit for one day." Voicing this, Catalena bounded over, gritting her sharp teeth together as her fist drilled into Gluttony's jelly-like stomach. He didn't move a muscle and she didn't know if she had taken him off guard, or if he really _did _mean that he didn't want her to die. She was surprised of how it sunk in, and was satisfied as she felt the dry ice embedded inside pop.

Once again, the gaseous explosion of dry ice spilled out from the crevice of Gluttony's injured stomach. Catalena would have described it as inhuman and gross considering all that water his body harbored.

Gluttony cried in pain again, pulling away with a fraction of his abdomen still intact. But again, he would just regenerate. In her frustration, Catalena went on to Plan C: Beat the shit out of him with rapid, light punches.

But even after the assault of explosive fists riddling his body, it would only regenerate in a red hue. "Stop killing me, Catalena! Wrath said you would behave!" A small tear formed in the corner of his eyes. And it only infuriated Catalena more that this bastard wouldn't die.

With her fists clenched in front of her, her eyes stared stupefied at the unrealistic reality engulfed within a red light before her.

How the hell is he even still alive? This _isn't possible._

She yelled in frustration, almost comically, "WHAT THE HELL! WHY WON'T YOU DIE, YOU FAT BASTARD! I JUST TOTALLY SUNK MY FIST THROUGH YOUR FREAKIN' SPINE and then BEAT THE JELLY OUT OF IT, YOU MONSTER."

"Waaaahhh! Stop yelling so much! You remind me of the little short blonde boy!" Gluttony sniffed, backing away from Catalena.

She regained her senses at the thought of the humorous Ed, as she was freaking out almost similar to the ways he had. Holding one of her hips, she sighed, "You're becoming a nuisance. I kinda wish I'd be fighting Bradley right now."

The thing giggled. Did she get that right? He _giggled. _Catalena's mouth slowly opened. "Wrath is waaaay stronger than me! In fact, he probably already killed that girl and the boy! I think I'm going to check so I can eat them!" On his stubby little legs, Gluttony happily skipped around on the rooftop.

Catalena sounded a 'tch' before swiftly striding by his side, slightly casual since he claimed to not want to kill her. This was one of the few moments she would actually use the Philosopher's Stone. She tapped her collarbone and hovered her hand by the homunculus' shoulder. **[3]**

Once she touched him, a red light followed and crackled out of the ground beneath his feet. Using Edward's tactic against her, Catalena created tubes of stone that shot out from before her hands, snaking their way towards the homunculus, Gluttony. He had jumped, startled by the sudden noise and action, but was quickly subdued and held against the ground, back-wise.

Catalena stepped over him, staring down at his mass figure. "You won't do anything to Ling if I can help it, homunculus."

"What—what happened? Is Catalena a homunculus, too?" Gluttony bellowed, struggling under the earth's grip.

She nodded sourly. How the hell did that idea sustain itself in that cranium of his? Apparently these _homunculus _fellows were not very well educated. "Not even close. I'm all human. And one of the qualities of a human is to watch over the people you care about."

"You mean those other little humans? Heehee, Wrath has probably already dealt with them, so you should just come with us and we can get the Ishvalan, too!" He cackled in a childlike way.

Catalena drew a grimace, clenching her fist and then driving it downward at Gluttony's skull again. It was left brittle and imploded, leaving nothing but cracking ice. "…Stay asleep, pal."

She jerked her arm free of blood and ice before walking away towards the edge of the rooftop; She was fully aware that the homunculus was capable of freeing itself at some impending moment.

But she could use that time to save Ling. Wherever he was.

The brunette leaned her body over the rim of the structure, her hands used as a canopy over her gray eyes as she observed the area. Worrywart, worrywart. She was being too much of a worrywart, like one of those wives who stay at home waiting for their husbands.

A red color rivaling that of a tomatos' appeared on her face, and she shook her head violently.

Looking down at the windswept ground tens of feet below her, she began contemplating why she had used that sort of analogy to describe her situation.

Several glass pieces fell on the ground that she was staring at. Her head jerked upward, catching the color of goldenrod and black throwing themselves out of a window.

Her gray eyes made it out to be Ling and Lan Fan, escaping from that building over there. Ling had fallen to his knees from the backfire of the jump, but quickly regained his stamina and began running down the alleyway.

Catalena pushed her chest away from her current position, following his trail from an aerial vantage point.

But the soles of her boots had only skidded to the rim of the building that she and Gluttony engaged on, causing rocks to tumble below. The feeling of fear washed within her.

_If Ling's here, where's Bradley?_

Her neck stretched right and left, frantically searching for a possible answer. Her search was troubled when her mind stopped functioning properly. She was no longer filled with the desire to search despite her worrying fears.

Catalena body straightened, staring ahead at nothing as the odd feeling flowed through her. It seemed to centralize at her abdomen, but then pain swum throughout her entire being.

Her gray eyes squinted.

A very _wet _feeling submerging itself within her gut.

The female's gaze slowly descended downward, to find out what was bothering her so much.

No expression could match the feeling that was occupying her right now, because she was never accustomed to it.

The _bright tint_ of a _bloodied_ silver _blade_ protruded itself from the right side of her body. She could attempt to question what the sword was doing there, dislodged through her, but the only thing she needed to know was that it _shouldn't _be there.

"Don't try to move. I didn't actually strike to kill you, however it would have been an amateur feat." The voice of the Führer stated casually behind her.

She felt a trickle of blood stream from the corners of her mouth.

With a clean '_schlick' _sound, the Führer pulled his weapon from her back, gliding it through the air to get rid of some of the heavy blood that was dripping from it.

"B-Bradley… " Catalena coughed out a few more droplets of blood, holding her stomach and injured area as she gradually fell onto her knees. Looking on the bright side, she wore boots and pants so they wouldn't get scraped or anything. Scraped knees were unattractive.

His shadow loomed high above hers, and from his action she didn't need proof that he wasn't any less of a monster than Gluttony was. "As a liable sacrifice, we don't need you running around and getting in our way."

The brunette slowly fell forward, flat, lying very still while clutching her bleeding side. She probably tried to ask him a question, but all she could hear was slurring anyway. His voice eventually became unrecognizable to her ears.

"People like you should just sit down like a loyal dog of the military and obey." The sounds of his boots hitting the concrete alarmed her; they were getting distant.

Her eyelids blinked a few times.

"Now stay put as I go finish off your Xingese friend."

Then silence. Complete and utter darkness.

She passed out.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_**[At the 5th Laboratory: Obtained from B9, B8, B6, and B3. Cell numbers 45, 23, 57, 63, and 35. All sum up to 20 sacrifices…]**_

_Disarrayed sounds of water droplets falling to the ground were everywhere, at every spot, at every moment._

_There was a cell with a man residing within, but unlike the other inmates, he looked perfectly at ease with himself._

_A girl in her pre-teens spoke to him, with sparkly gray eyes and a cheery disposition. But just like the man before her, was the very reflection of an insane, immoral mind._

"_So Dad told me not to talk to you anymore…"_

"_Oh, did he now?"_

"_But I thought since I haven't seen you since the Ishvalan Civil War we could catch up or something." She didn't look in the least scared, even though she was but a thirteen year old, amateur alchemical apprentice, alone within Central Prison._

_Talking to one of the most dangerous men of the whole jailhouse as if he were everyone's best friend._

_He smiled, and through his long, unkempt hair still harbored the man who taught her to use her alchemy in such a unique way._

_**Explode. Combust. Smolder. Repeat.  
><strong>_

_Catalena smirked at him, holding the bars and beginning to twiddle the heels of her feet together like a schoolgirl,_

_"Yeah. So why are you even stuck in here, Kimblee? I thought you were a hero after that war."_

_He glanced at her, still smiling. Smiling with obvious sadism, but to her it was normal. With his cuffed hands he thrust his fists into his stomach, causing him to cough._

"_K-Kimblee?"_

_There was a glowing red object in his hands, now._

_The 13-year-old girl would press her face to the bars, with wide, bewildered eyes._

"_W-what is that?"_

"_It's a Philosopher's Stone." He had stated simply, his own blue optics examining the object, "…You've studied about these, right, Catalena?"_

"…_Um…Only that they have a lot of power. Where did you get it?" She began to feel frightened now, face pulling away from the cold embrace of the bars._

"_It's the very reason I'm in here."_

"_Huh?"_

_Kimblee stood up from his bunk bed, holding the stone in one hand and in the other was a slip of paper he was probably sitting on._

_Drawing closer to the bars and Catalena, Kimblee slipped his fingers towards her—the ones that claimed the paper. The always malicious, conniving grin sewn on his face, picture perfect.  
><em>

"_And I know where you can get one."_

_**[At the 5th Laboratory: Obtained from B9, B8, B6, and B3. Cell numbers 45, 23, 57, 63, and 35. All sum up to 20 sacrifices. Discretely mention the word 'Envy' and follow his directions. ]**_

_**.**_

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><p><strong>[1] - <strong>I'm not writing this story and ignoring the feelings between Lan Fan and Ling (Although it is possibly one-sided). In my own opinion, I DO think Ling is ignorant to Lan Fan's personal feelings, but I think it's safe to say the feeling isn't mutual. Yet.**  
><strong>

**[2] – **It depends on how Catalena uses her gauntlets if she has to refurbish them with frost. If it is a very forceful punch, then the frost will slide off from the brunt of it and she will have to recreate the armor. If it is a light and quick punch, then the explosion won't be as powerful, but it should still prove painful. This also means that the frost isn't very stable, so she can't use her hands to protect herself like Greedling does with his carbon claw things. That's why Catalena is known to be very nimble with her footwork.

**[3] – **Unlike using it as a medium to empower her frost attacks, Catalena uses the Philosopher's Stone to bypass the Law of Equivalent exchange when she is dealing with other things besides her personal powers. Such as reconstructing and deconstructing rock to bend against her will. She hasn't passed through the gate like Hohenheim, Ed, Al, and Izumi have so she can't just clap and then bam. (She never attempted human transmutation. Nobody close to her has died, but she probably WOULD since she's so greedy.)

The reason why she can use her frost abilities without a transmutation circle is because her gloves have the appropriate sign threaded on them. So basically she uses the Philosopher's Stone in those pesky times when she doesn't have time to draw a circle. It's sort of the same deal with Mustang, who has appropriate gloves for flame alchemy.

**A/N: **No wayyyy! Catalena, you can't die! D: It seems it's just in the Kimblee line to get stabbed in the lower abdomen, huh? That guy needs to teach himself and his student to be more attentive of their surroundings. Does anyone remember when he got impaled with a pike by Scar? Yeah, that man's got fucking balls to be dragged around against the back of a speeding train in like, really cold weather. POINTS FOR KIMBLEE~

Please review, and I hope you have insight for the next chappie~

So when I found out that Kimblee actually swallows his Philosopher's Stone and has to cough it back up, I dunno, I found that kinda cool. And isn't his voice just intoxicatingly sexy? I mean like, if you're into you know, low voices like that. Greed also has an awesome English voice (Troy~~~) but sometimes you just want to hear a dark voice instead of an obnoxious one.

Never mind, this is a Ling x OC x Greed fic, which means you all are here to love them and not old Kimbles'. Yar, Kimbles'. It sorta makes sense with the whole blowing up process. Or cat food.

Review you silent drones. :D See you in a week or so. GREED IS COMING SOON ADAKFHLKJSSKFHAL


	9. Reaching Out

**ALL REVIEWERS: **Thank you for all of your contribution! All of those seconds or minutes you spent reviewing for me! Will you please remain faithful and check out my new and hopefully improved version of this story? **  
><strong>

**A/N: **LAST UPDATE FOR THIS STORY. I will be re-writing this story after some consulting with a friend of mine who has nothing to do with . Thank you for all the lovely reviews and feedback for this story! I hope the new one I have just published will suffice! This chapter was already written and I liked it, so I'm going to share it with you before leaving it to collect dust forever.

I have just had an epiphany after reading some criticism, and I'm going to change this whole story completely. Will you please read and review as well as share your thoughts? I promise all of the same funny and touching stuff that was in this one! But this time, I hope to keep you all guessing!

**Disclaimer:**Nothing to disclaim. FMA is mine and mine alone. /sarcasm__

_**DONT REPORT ME FOR SARCASM IT'S MY MIDDLE NAME. D:  
><strong>_

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><p><em><strong>Avaricious<strong>_

**.**

_| Commendable… |_

**Chapter 9**

Reaching Out

**.**

There's a smooth and sticky feeling ushering itself in her lower body. Speaking of which, that body kept moving, swaying to and fro in a traipsing motion. Was she walking?

No, that can't be. Her waist should have been too weak to sustain her upper body weight. To sum it up, she was feeling pretty spineless as of the moment. So she was being carried. But by whom?

Lashes tickled the nape of the neck her face was slung over, and the owner of the neck adjusted itself for questioning.

Her gray irises fluttered open and close, rinse and repeat. Finally they stayed open, and she visually discerned broad shoulders that her bare arms were draped around.

Wait, let's recap for a second.

Broad shoulders? Bare arms? She was being _carried?_

Slowly her face drew away from the black hair of her rescuer, but when she tried to move her legs she realized they were straddled against this person in a piggyback fashion. "…What the hell…LING?" She instantly accused, recognizing the hairstyle and body form.

"Hey there~" It was exactly so. The young man smiled at her, retaining his signature squinty eyes.

As the blood rushed to her face, she was about to shout at him and demand he release her from the embarrassing predicament, however when she tried to force a stern voice, her gut began seething with pain again. "Urgh…" Catalena grit her teeth together, clawing at the front of Ling's bare chest with one hand and holding the dressed wound with the other.

"OW, OW, OW, THAT HURTS!" He cried as her nails struck his skin.

She ignored his plea of course. As her colorless eyes winced downward, she realized her sleeves were missing and her gloves were gone again. Apparently the Xingese prince tore off of her sleeves to stop the bleeding, but she had no idea where her alchemy gloves went. Well either way, did she ever give him permission to violate her clothes like that? Noooooo.

She would have to get them tailored.

Ling stopped in his tracks, his neck craning towards her writhing figure, "Are you okay? Does it hurt too much?"

Catalena bit down on her tongue, loathing that she was so useless. The last thing she remembered before passing out was Bradley stabbing her, and before that, Ling leaping out of a building with the injured Lan Fan. After all of that, she collapsed on the rooftop, awaiting her demise.

How pathetic she must appear in front of Ling. Usually she would stride so confidently, like she owned the whole damn world. But now she was being forced into a piggyback ride, bleeding her innards out on the person she had originally sought to protect.

Some friend she was.

"Hell-oooo. Catalena?" That particular being repeated; now becoming fully attentive to her condition.

She was shocked for a moment, but her only response was to wrap her now bloody hands around Ling. And bury her face into his neck—as if holding on as tightly as possible would fix everything. "I'm fine. Just keep moving. I'm possibly dying; but I really don't give a shit."

That was all Ling needed to hear before he began sprinting through the sewers; Catalena had figured the area to be. Well that explained the smell. Glancing through the curves of his neck with her one open eye, she began to ponder what the hell happened and why he had come back.

"Where's Lan Fan?"

"The blonde lieutenant has her. I did escape from that Führer guy with Lan Fan, but…I had to leave her behind for a moment to capture the homunculus."

"You actually got him? How the hell did you manage to do that?" Was she envious? Yes, one could say that.

Ling spoke humbly, but it still irked Catalena that she failed to capture him herself. Well, she SORT of did, but then she left him there. "I forced a bomb down his throat. And when it detonated and he imploded, I had Ed make me some cable to tie him down with once he started regenerating again. He, Lan Fan, and that woman are waiting up above for us in a car."

Catalena further buried her face into the surface of his skin, trying to hide the flush he obviously couldn't see, "If that's the case…why did you come back for me? What if Bradley finds you guys because you had to take a sudden detour?"

Her eyes widened in fury as she unraveled the possible outcomes.

Catalena forced her neck to stretch farther against him, so that she could scream into his ears, "What the hell is wrong with you? What if you got yourself killed, DUMBASS! You should have left me behind—you—!"

"I know, okay?"

With her mouth slightly agape, she stared blindly at the side of his face.

"You can call me an idiot as much as you like," Ling didn't turn to look at her, instead focusing straight ahead. However still his words touched her almost passionately, "But it doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't forgive myself if I left you behind. Not only did you come to help me in the first place, but you're my friend, Catalena, so I won't abandon you."

Her eyes seemed to pulse as they began switching between the point of astonishment and composure. Those annoying butterflies had also seemed to get lost and ram against the walls of her stomach again.

"Even if I tried." He sighed, out of breath.

She paused as he pushed himself forward again, this time walking leisurely. It was almost as if he were trying to savor those few tentative moments forever as the ladder leading to freedom appeared just a few yards away from them.

And throughout all those sensitive moments Catalena could only hang her mouth open in dismay. Complete and utter numbness inhabited her already injured body. Why was she freaking out from a simple reply? Catalena's inexperience with close relations between people she cared about was evident from the awesome look on her face.

Thus, the result from being subject to a sadistic and singularly realistic man does not help the cause. When people hear you were trained under that Mad Bomber guy from the Ishvalan war, they suddenly don't accept your cens. **[1] **

Of course after a little coerce she was capable of making them graciously accept her money.

Finally reaching the ladders to the open surface, Ling motioned at her, his neck straining again. As he spoke, it was obvious that he too, was out of breath. Her eyes widened again when she saw his face bleeding from a visibly recent cut, "Are you too wounded to climb up these steps or am I going to have to lift you up?" He seemed all too happy at the possibility.

She hadn't responded, instead being too entirely focused on the large incision upon his cheek.

"Hey? Are you still there? Did you pass out on me again?"

With cold, outstretched fingers, Catalena slowly reached her bare hand out towards Ling's face, her already bloodied fingertips wiping at his seeping cut. Of course, it was only a scratch, but it had somehow attracted her.

Ling's own figure completely froze at the sudden gesture, and his eyes peered out of the corners of his periodicals to stare absent-mindedly at the uncharacteristic action of his female friend. A few soft and gentle brushes with her chilly fingertips and she wiped away the blood clean.

As Ling looked towards her for questioning, he was further disturbed by the sudden act of her bringing the hand dirtied with his blood to her lips, eyeballing it with an indifferent look before actually lapping her tongue around it, licking it clean as well.

Sadistic much?

"Um…what was that for? It was just a scratch."

Like a magnet she was drawn back to earth. Glancing at the hand that was now clean with her saliva, she desperately tried to come up with an excuse, "I-It was…your face is just warm and the blood was bothering me." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face behind his nape again.

"Ah, really? I thought you were getting this weird, sadistic thrill off of tasting me." Ling joked, but she didn't really know if he meant it or not.

Such is the way with Ling.

"N-oh wa-hy." She mumbled, words colliding with each other at the surface of his warm skin.

Attempting to steal an insightful look at her as he tried to spot the girl creeping against his back, he ushered a cheerful grin.

"So how do I taste, Catalena?"

She was offended by his inquisition. She answered anyway, to prove that she wasn't that weird sort of sadist, "Disgusting."

"Whaaaat~?" Ling whined, propping one of his feet against the bars of the ladder. He was about to climb up with her clung onto his back? How moronic.

Catalena's head lifted, staring up at the entrance of the manhole. The rays of afternoon light blinded her, and immediately destroyed the guilt that wanted her to get out herself. "…I'm not a vampire or anything. It was just something Kimblee used to do, and I had taken a habit to it. However, this is the first time someone's actually questioned me on the subject."

Ling used one hand to grasp her legs, the other curled around the ladder's bars with a steel grip, "Oh, yeah? So you just did it because of this Kimblee person? Is he an Amestrian celebrity or someone I should know?" The young prince used both his feet and one hand to slowly ascend upwards, and Catalena could finally smell something other than stink.

"That's a story for another day. Considering we both don't collapse into a pile of limbs together on the sidewalk." And she _would _mind if they actually toppled on top of one another exactly so.

Ling chuckled, finally pulling the both of them up. As expected, once he managed to stand erect again, there was a car with a blonde woman driving and two other occupants waiting within the shadows of a nearby alleyway. Ling trotted over, helping Catalena into the front seat beside the blonde and placing a firm grip on one of her hands.

"You'll have to tell me that story once we get you patched up." Ling, still holding her hand that was dried with blood, began unwrapping a few of the bandages that he had wrapped around his wrists. He thrust the bundle into that hand, and then pressed it to her bleeding side. When she looked from his hand to his very serious face, he added, "I would dress it for you if we had time, but to be frank we're still on the run."

"The serious and worried personality doesn't suit you, "Catalena joked. All the while locking her gray eyes with his squinted ones. Now that she mentioned it, she wondered what color his irises were.

Giving her a smile, Ling closed the door and, after sending a gesture to the blonde driver, threw himself over the backseat. He sort of leaned over to look straight ahead since there was no roof to the car, between Lan Fan (Who was unconscious) and the bonded Gluttony.

"If you've taken care of your business, I'll be heading to our destination, now." The silent woman finally spoke, and when Catalena glanced over her shoulder she looked dumbfounded at Hawkeye's rather simple disguise.

"We're ready. Get moving." Ling requested with a sigh.

And so all that dirty business seemed to be taken care of from Catalena's point of view. Unfortunately for her, it led to even higher heights.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Lan Fan's smothered cries still reached them while Doctor Knox was operating on her injuries.

It didn't faze Catalena, who was sent off with just a dressing on her lower abdomen, but her friend was taking it rather harshly. It wasn't that he was clawing at his head, regretting every single decision he had done. Rather, he accepted it as his own responsibility, but Ling couldn't help but mutter that he wasn't ready for something like this.

She was feeling sympathetic, and the emotion was unfamiliar to her.

"…Ling, will you be alright?" Edward Elric, who had also retreated to the same safehouse after the recent events, stuck his head through the secluded doorway.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Ling remained mentally immobile. He wasn't open to sharing his feelings with anyone, much less Edward. The blonde had left without another word, taking in the unvoiced message clear as day.

Catalena and Ling were the only two in that tiny confined room. Ling had his head leaned over, elbows propped on his knees while he stared quietly downward. When Lan Fan's screams reached their ears, she noticed his brows quiver slightly.

She couldn't forget; he still was only a child, after all. And still he had already so much responsibility he carried with him, so much ambition that drove him forward.

Catalena admired him for that.

"Are you regretting your decisions?" She managed to slip into the silence, crossing her arms against her chest and sitting upright with her back pressed against the wall, merely observing him.

His squinted eyes seemed to squeeze even tighter shut, as if in contemplation, before they returned to the already disturbed state of mind, "It wasn't my decision. Lan Fan made the decision I was too weak to make."

"Do you regret agreeing to that task?" Catalena asked another question, displaying no emotion in that dim light.

There was an elongated moment of silence, before his fingers, dangling loosely, chose to intertwine to release tension, "No. Lan Fan and I accepted it fully—it was the very reason I even came into this country."

"If you don't regret either of those, then why are you acting so depressed? I don't understand it."

In the blink of an eye, his neck sprung upwards, facing Catalena with wide-open eyes. "It's true that I don't regret anything that's happened so far, but I wasn't prepared for it!" He suddenly fired at her, all that pent-up emotion being expressed, "I know I'm supposed to make sacrifices…for the greater good…" Ling hunched over again, this time setting on of his knees in front of him to lean his chin against.

"…"

"But this…I wasn't ready for this…"

Catalena straightened her arms out, watching him with apathetic eyes. He didn't bother saying anything more, so she stood up, seating herself beside her troubled friend. The brown coat he was wearing instead of the usual goldenrod was sliding off of him, so she thought it necessary to straighten it out. Catalena's fingers gripped the soft fabric of his jacket and adjusted it so that it covered his still shaking shoulders.

Ling slowly relaxed at the sudden gesture, heaving a great sigh.

Catalena smiled softly to herself, probably feeling more at ease to do so since he wasn't focused on her face, "You're still young, like me. You aren't supposed to be fully prepared for the things to come. That's why you have to keep evolving."

Her fingers still gripped the scruff of his jacket, pulling it more closely to his cold neck, "…So that next time, you won't feel as much remorse." Soft fingertips gently caressed his skin as they danced along by, "…Because no matter whatever shit you do…don't regret it."

Before she could pull her hand away, he covered it with his own, causing her to go into an alarmed state. Gray eyes traced to the periodicals, and she was surprised to see his slanted irises open to reveal black pupils. "…Hearing you say this makes me feel like you have experience in the matter."

Not mocking, more of a question. Ling was asking her what _she _regretted doing. And on regards of her somewhat two-sided personality, he just _knew _she was hiding something.

Catalena gulped, staring at Ling with neutral but awake eyes, "…Kimblee."

"Your weird, malicious teacher?" Ling chirped, releasing her hand that slid back to rest on her thighs.

Catalena pushed her back against the wall, the rear of her head knocked against it as she tried to stare overhead. "…The very same. You know, I was the one who suggested the apprenticeship. That crazy fuck Kimblee was reluctant at first, but…" She smirked, even chuckling a bit under her breath, "…I was stubborn, too."

"…Tell me about it."

Catalena's pupils lowered down to glance at him, and then her eyelids shut for a moment. A few comfortable seconds passed, and she reopened them, still staring at the ceiling, "He just…attracted me. When I got into the State Military School, my knowledge of alchemy became apparent. Before I knew it, alchemy was my primary subject; they wanted me to know everything I could about it."

Ling watched the woman beside her, quiet.

"There were a bundle of alchemy specialists in Central at the time. Kimblee was the most appealing to me because of the way he handled things." Her eyes shut close again, and her head lowered down to Earth as she cracked a smirk, "He was admittedly sadistic, but as a child I would never understand that. Being the idiot I was, the only thing that I could see in him was his nihilistic viewpoints and witty, cynical nature. I'll even admit the man had a sense of style, too."

"So you're into posers."

"No." Blinking to lock a gaze with Ling, she pointed towards her face with one of her thumbs, "…Did you think I got this tongue of mine from my father? Are you freaking kidding me? That guy was as loyal and soulless as a dog; he was subject to the military, body and mind." Her hands relaxed, and she stared downward again, "…I'm tired of Command, of Briggs, North, East, whatever. All I want is to live life my own way, out of that invisible countrywide barrier this place feels to have."

"…"

"…All I want…is everything I couldn't have. And then more. Isn't that how all humans think?"

"Perhaps. What specific things do you desire?" Ling inquired, folding his hands within each other. His emotions were content at the moment—Catalena succeeded in drawing him away from that dark place.

Her gray eyes retained a glint when she peered up at him, grinning a small, sharp smile, "Money I can never run out of, all the food I can eat, power that strikes fear in others…" Catalena paused, her list cut short.

Ling opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it,

"And of course, I want everyone to love me. I may seem introverted, but I truly love being surrounded by people. Unfortunately for _me, _they tend to avoid me. I blame Kimblee."

"That all sounds pretty selfish."

She shrugged, lifting her thin eyebrows proudly above their individual eyes, "I never said I was a giving person."

"I think I remember you mentioning that it was hard for you to make friends…isn't that something you don't have?" Ling had a very small smile on his face, and he probably secretly hoped that Catalena wouldn't spot it.

"Friends…I have one friend right now. Guess who? It's you. So yes and yes." Catalena sighed, folding one of her legs over the other and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe instead of trying so desperately for people to get attracted to you, you should try softening up a bit. Edward talked with me about you once; he said that you were terribly abrasive and inconsiderate of others' feelings."

"Am I? I came to talk to you, didn't I?"

Ling raised his index finger, speaking in a doting manner as he lectured her, "I don't count. I had always liked you from the start."

Ignoring the incoming blush growing on her cheeks like a flame, she quickly asked him, "…What exactly are you saying to me?"

Ling's brows dropped, and he merely stated the obvious, "…You need to be more kind, Catalena. Or else nobody will want to be your friend. Stop blaming your faults on your teacher; he's in jail, right? So you should be moving on."

"…"

"You're already a very pretty girl; this shouldn't be very difficult."

Ignoring the fact that he called her 'pretty', Catalena considered his solution for a moment, but then sighed again, staring at the wall that opposed them.

"…Even though my reputation is possibly already thwarted…I guess you're right."

"Good!" Ling beamed, his cheery personality taking over. "You should treat others the way you would want to be treated."

Her gray optics peered at him from the corner of her eyes, and she smiled heartily again, giggling slightly, "You should stick to that personality. The serious and worried face and diction don't suit you."

At that point, Ling's expression dropped, and he instantly remembered the incident prior. The Xingese Prince slumped over, burying his face into his knees as he hugged his legs to his chest, sulking.

Catalena merely facepalmed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>[1] - <strong>The currency used in the FMA world. At least in Amestris, for all I know.

**A/N: **And thus is our close for the story Avaricious. But not Catalena. Want to continue reading her story? Erase all of the text that you have memorized from this story, and please read our heroine's new version of Rapacious. Read and review for that, thank you and have a wonderful day.

Question! Do I take criticism well?

Of course I do. If I didn't, I would continue writing the plotline I have right now, when it clearly has faults.** I refuse **to continue to write badly when the mistakes were already made clear to me.** Why should I practice to be perfect if my practice only results imperfect? **/perfectionist**  
><strong>

It's called evolving. Embrace it. Smell it. Eat it. Yum.**  
><strong>


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